The Prophecies Child
by Double.T.W.S
Summary: What if Naruto is actually smarter and craftier compared to the original timeline, what if Naruto was taken care of while he was younger, what if there are different settings in the Naruto timeline? See the new story of different beginnings and ends, where there isn't the occasional bullshit power up (seriously only using Rasengan only?) and people act like ninja's.
1. Chapter 1

**Alright, Hello fellow avid Fanfic Readers, i'm sure many of you are disappointed with the ending of the Naruto Series, i believe that many plot holes in the series has caused it to deteriorate beyond what was originally achieved when the series started. There are no longer any good action, the only good action would be from Sasuke, seriously, Naruto is spamming Rasengan away and after he becomes Hokage, what happened to that talk of ending the cycle of Hatred? It only showed that Naruto became Hokage, there are too many twists till the series is no longer fun and exciting to read.**

 **My concept of partnering Fu with Naruto has some meaning to it, some gimmicks and tricks that i came up with, it sounds plausible and impossible, but that's what Naruto is about right?** **My Fanfic is not something that i want everyone to like and follow, i just want your remarks and reviews to learn and improve a story which i hope can achieve something that Naruto series lacks. This fanfic is just for fun and amusement, something i came up on the spot, i hope you have a good time reading this. Enjoy.**

 **As always, Naruto is not own by me. How i wish that Naruto remain true to the good old ways instead of God powers.**

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October the 10th, the serene environments resonated throughout the Hidden village of Konohagakure, yet for a certain couple within secluded vicinity 10 miles away from the village were welcoming the new addition to the family.

"AHHHHHHH" a scream echoes throughout the night. The voice belonged to none other than Minato Namikaze, Konoha's **Yellow Flash** and the Yondaime Hokage.

"Kushina dear, you got to endure, keep pushing but please let go of my hand" he says whimpering from the pain of his hand being crushed.

"DON'T you Dear me, you bastard, I need something to grab onto damn it!" Kushina screams at his face while simultaneously pushing out.

"Humph, you men can go into battle against hundreds of enemies, but cower and whimper when a women is going through labour, I swear you men are so hypocritical." said Biwako, the nurse at the moment right next to her assistant.

Minato sweat dropped at her surprisingly accurate comment. However, Kushina's sudden cry causes both their attention to revert back to her, "C'mon Kushina, just a bit more, I can see the head, keep pushing".

With an undaunting push, the baby plops out with the soothing sound of its crying indicating the new birth and addition to the Namikaze family. Biwako quickly cuts off the umbilical cord and blankets the baby in many sheets, Minato wanting to see his new-born son was however denied his effort.

"The wife should be given the first privileges after the excruciating process" Biwako exclaims with a huff and places the baby on the bed ushering Kushina to lay down right down next to her baby, where Minato looks on with a sweatdrop.

"Oh you big baby, come and greet your son, look he even has your hair and eyes, Kyaaaaa look at those cute whiskers on his chicks, he's gonna be the heartbreaker of many girls, Dattebane _!_ " Kushina says with gleaming eyes.

As Biwako takes away the baby, Minato approaches the bed to begin renewing the seal that contains the Kyuubi No Yoko, when the temperature suddenly drops and everybody becomes tense. Within a blink of an eye, Biwako and her assistant Taji suddenly collapses onto the floor with a squelch, signifying the presence of blood and an injury.

The unknown culprit makes his presence known with the new born baby wailing within his clutches, the newly integrated parents are both shocked and stunned to the current spectacle. "Fourth Hokage, Minato, step away from the Jinchuriki or else this child will die in its first minute" the man threaten them with a deep and gruff voice, underlying behind a mask to conceal his identity.

Known as an analytical man by most, Minato immediately began diffusing the situation. _How the hell did he get through the barrier and all the Anbu situated outside the vicinity? Possible reasons, traitor within our midst which is highly unlikely being that Kushina's status as a Jinchuriki is only known amongst a few. Threat level, Jonin and above capabilities, must be eliminated or apprehended since he somehow knows Kushina's status and the seal stability during labour. Secondly, who is he?_

However Kushina's sudden cry of pain brought him back to reality and realised the severity of the situation, he was torn between renewing the seal and preventing the Kyuubi from getting out or saving the life of his new-born son. The seal started to bulge out and the seal spreads towards the rest of her body, indicating the fast deterioration of the seal.

"Get away from the Jinchuriki, don't you care what happens to this brat?" the mysterious man whips out a kunai threateningly to prove his point.

"Wait, please just stay calm" Minato proposes with an anxious and weary tone, obviously from the stress undertaken in the situation. "Speak for yourself, I am as calm as can be" the man says in an relaxed and calm tone, his posture however was one whom was tense and ready to kill on the mark.

In that single moment, the man tosses the light weighted baby into the air; Naruto gives out a cry being introduced to an unknown feeling. He springs up with his kunai ready to impale the baby, when the bundle becomes a blur with Minato appearing the next second on the wall with Naruto in his grasp truly earning his moniker "the fastest man on earth".

"Well I must hand it to the **Yellow Flash,** but I wonder about the next one?" he lands the next and immediately holds up a half ram sign. The exploding tags underneath Naruto's bundle instantly sizzle and spark, Kushina frantically cries out for her husband and child. It happened in a flash, Minato teleported to the seals at one of his bunkers and tore off the blankets. A resounding boom occurred as Minato managed to narrowly escape the explosion and was sent skidding across the ground with Naruto held tightly to him.

Taking a second to check for injuries on Naruto, he smiles with relief when his child is completely unharmed. He immediately teleports to his other hideouts when he realises that Kushina is still in danger, he tucks Naruto into a crib. At another location, Kushina is being held captive and restraint when the man weakens the seal and rips out the Kyuubi from Kushina's seal. The Kyuubi under the influence from the man's revealed sole Sharingan immediately tries to trample Kushina under its paws by the given order from the man.

Kushina was saved from the timely arrival of Minato and was immediately teleported to where Naruto was, isolated and away from the village where they are kept save. Minato immediately drapes on his combat attire with his highly iconic cloak and teleports onto the top of the Hokage Monument, where the beast was summoned and was wreaking havoc across the entire village. Civilians were screaming and frantically fleeing while the shinobi tried to deal with the beast, but failed to land a single scratch and sought to infuriate the beast even more.

The great beast became aware of Minato's presence and proceeded to accumulate a massive amount of demonic and normal chakra to form the **Bijudama** (Tailed Beast Ball). The ball was fired at Minato whilst wreaking destruction and death in its path, Minato went through a series of hand signs and places the seal matrix on his tri-pronged kunai in front of him.

The ball appeared to be sucked into a vortex where seals appeared on the edge of the vortex, where the destructive bomb was inching in ever so slowly. Once completely engulfed, Minato teleported it away to safe location away from the village, the explosion was seen away in the distance and completely illuminated the night.

"The scale of that explosion is too big, I need to be careful where I sent it next time" Minato analysed from his observations. However a familiar presence appeared behind him, he immediately counter attacked but witnessed his attack failing and his opponent becomes intangible.

He was forced to teleport again as he was being sucked into a vortex, where the man was deduced by Minato to be Madara Uchiha. They clashed again when Minato's opponent clamps on chains to his wrists. Managing to deduce the mechanics of his Madara's jutsu, Minato realised he had one chance to counter attack during the point where both of them would clash.

Racing towards one another, Minato threw his Kunai mid sprint into his Madara's head. It resulted in his enemy becoming intangible again, as they were about to clash with Minato's Rasengan in his right hand and Madara whom look like the victor ready to suck him into his dimension, Minato teleported.

In that split second, Minato teleported to the kunai that fazed out of his enemy and crashed his Rasengan into his back before he could become intangible again. The resulting explosion engulfed the area, Minato being the cautious man that he was, marked his enemy where he struck him.

After Madara praised Minato and berated himself for letting his guard down, he was suddenly pierced by Minato who appeared right next to him in a flash due to his marking. Minato wisely used the moment to implant a contract seal in order to remove Madara's hold of the Kyuubi; resulting in Madara fleeing the scene where he warned that he will be back to claim what was his.

When Minato returned back to Konoha in order to combat the Kyuubi, he summoned Gamabunta the Toad boss summon on top the Kyuubi to hinder its movements. Seeing as it's impossible to defeat or capture the beast, he had to resort to Fuinjutsu, but he required a newly born baby.

After trying thoughts and considerations, he flash back to Naruto and brought him to the scene in order to begin the sealing process and places him on an altar. Kushina arrives on the scene to assist after an argument with Minato, she forms Chakra Chains exclusive to the Uzumaki Clan in order to bind the beast.

Minato activates the **Shiki Fujin** (Dead Demon Consuming seal) and seals the Yin half of Kyuubi into himself, he stumbles after feeling the heavy impact of the Kyuubi's Chakra. While preparing the seal the other half, Kushina whom was already weakened lost her grasp on one of the Kyuubi's arms.

Feeling threatened, the Kyuubi chose to get rid of Naruto, preparing a claw which would no doubt kill him. Kushina and Minato realizing the incoming threat to their son chose to jump in the way to protect their son. Minato and Kushina were both impaled through the stomach; Minato used the situation to his advantage and activated the seal which finally seals the Yang half into Naruto.

After a brief tearful farewell and advice to their son, the third Hokage arrived on the scene with his Anbu, Minato told of the status of the son being the current Jinchuriki of the nine-tails and how he wanted his son to be treated as a hero. Minato and Kushina eventually succumbed to their death, after realising the death of his successor and his spouse turned his attention to the wailing baby on the altar. He immediately started barking out orders and called for a council meeting to explain the situation. He made his way with the infant in his arms to the Hokage Tower which wasn't damaged and entered the Council room.

 **XxX**

In the room, his mind was a maze, if he were to reveal Naruto's status as a Jinchuriki to the general public, many would call for his death, _let's how this plays out_ .At a glance, he could see the numerous solemn and devastated look amongst many of the clan heads, the civilian council were all accounted for but were equally devastated. "Dragon, give me the status and damage reports of the village" he signalled to his Anbu guards. People were starting to get confused as Hiruzen was seating in the Hokage's seat, which usually wasn't a problem, but the Fourth Hokage was now the head and Hiruzen was his advisor.

"Today has been a night of disaster and destruction, we managed to defeat the Kyuubi…" people started to weep in relief, but were suddenly cut off by the next sentence. "However, it has come at a great cost, our Lord Fourth and his spouse has sacrificed their lives and has sealed the beast into young Naruto Uzumaki "Gesturing to the infant in his arms, this brought about a tense moment of silence.

Immediately cries of outburst rang in the room, primarily from the civilian council. "Kill the beast!" "Destroy the monster" were some the cries emitted from them. "SILENCE!" Hiruzen's booming voice echoed through the room. Hiruzen sighed in a way that truly showed his age, he figured this would happen and decided to prevent this.

" What I've just shared with you all is considered an S-class secret, I will invoke a law under my command which I am resuming as Hokage, should any of you reveal this information, it is punishable by death. I refuse to harm an innocent child and I will not turn the boy into a weapon, this is my word and law."

His 'trusted' advisor and past teammate, Shimura Danzo on the other hand was seething, but appeared to have a calm and monotone look on the outside. After the 'disbandment' of root, Hiruzen was still being a torn on his side and again prevented him from becoming Hokage. The military mind-set that Danzo had was the complete opposite of Hiruzen's **Will of Fire;** he was the shadow in the shade of the trees, while Hiruzen was the light.

Once securing a crib for the infant, Hiruzen stepped outside the Hokage tower and prepared to address the citizens of the current situation." People of Konoha, today we have suffered a great deal of loss and our home has been damaged. The Kyuubi which has struck at the heart of our village has been defeated by Lord Fourth; however he and his spouse have sacrificed their lives in the process and their child was lost."

People were openly weeping and the mood in the area turn sour, the fourth Hokage was a legend in Konoha and hero to many in Hi no Kuni (Land of Fire). Many considered the fastest man alive to be undefeatable, as clearly shown in his skirmish with Iwa where he gained his SS-rank in the bingo book and the flee on sight order. Added to that their supposed heir to the Namikaze clan was dead with his family was terrible blow to many, none so more than a certain Anbu captain.

Now Konoha were leaderless and the village was in chaos and distress. "We have lost a great many today, but we have won against a tidal wave due to the Will of Fire which many of you embody. Do not cower, do not fear, do not despair, the fate of Konoha rest in your hands, get up and restore Konoha to its former glory, **the Will of Fire lives on**!" Hiruzen's voice reached to everyone present, what they saw wasn't the grandfatherly figure that he usually portrayed; this was Sarutobi Hiruzen, the Third Hokage and 'The **God of Shinobi'**.

People were momentarily stunned, but the moment was gone, their pride and honour as a Konoha citizen rejuvenated. People scrambled to fix any damages that were currently present, Hiruzen looked on with pride that his village were working hard to restore order. After returning back to his office, he looked on with a grievous look at the crib, "what do I do with you Naruto? He figured that he could ask the clans to adopt him, but rather which one? After some contemplating, he figured that none would do as many would fear that the seal might break after today's incident. Suddenly, he had an idea, unsure if it would work but it would be well worth it if the person was willing.

Signalling to his Anbu, "Get me Inu (Dog)". With a salute, the Anbu vanished where moments later, Inu in his Anbu attire was present and stood in a rigged stance. "You wanted to see my Sandaime-sama?" although he voice was low and calm, it belied the broken and emotional storm the Anbu was feeling.

With a sign, all the Anbu left the area, with a silencing seal forming in the room, with only the Hokage and Inu present. "Inu, remove your mask", doing as he was told, he removed it to reveal **ANOTHER MASK** and gravity defying silver hair and his headband covering his left eye. This man was known Kakashi Hatake, known prodigy, A-rank Anbu captain and son of the late S-rank ninja Sakumo Hatake. He was also the last remaining student in Team Minato, but after today's incident he now stands as the only member left. The reason for his dejected behaviour was that after his father's suicide and the death of his teammates Obito during the war and Rin when he killed her with his Chidori (One thousand Birds), Minato and he were the only one left. Minato along with Kushina treated Kakashi as family and brought some happiness into Kakashi's life, despite the weight of his past guilt.

"Kakashi (age 16), what I'm about to tell will benefit you as well as is to remain within these walls at all cost, this is SS-class information that even the council members do not know of, I trust you to keep this safe." At that, Kakashi's focus was entirely on Hiruzen, SS-class information was very rare and to be taken very seriously, it was meant that the information could potentially cause war or cause Konoha to be destroyed. "Turn your attention to the crib on my right, who do you see?" Kakashi made his way to it, trying to figure out whom this infant with three whisker marks on each cheek, and ocean blue eyes and golden blond hair…wait? Only one person in the whole village had blond hair a shade brighter than the Yamanaka's and blue eyes, his sensei. So why was a young infant reminding him so much of his sensei, ,recalling that Kushina was pregnant and in labour, it was said by the third Hokage that his children didn't make it, so his eyes widened to massive proportion.

"L-L-Lord Third please tell me that's who I think it is" Kakashi started spluttering his words out and his whole body was fidgeting. "It seems you've figured it out, meet Naruto Namikaze, son of Minato and Kushina" with that Kakashi did something very un-Kakashi like, he fainted. After several moments, he came to and turn to Hiruzen with a very angered look," I thought you said Minato-sensei's son didn't make it so what is this!?". "Kakashi, what would happen if I were tell the citizens that Naruto was alive and the heir of the Namikaze clan? We just ended the war and we've just been attacked by the Kyuubi, we are weakened and our enemies namely Iwa will no doubt use this opportunity to assassinate him, another piece of news that is rather shocking is that Naruto is the new Jinchuriki of the Kyuubi after Minato sealed it into him, therefore I faked his death in order to elude our enemies." Hiruzen replied with an aged sigh, he just found out his wife was one the casualties involved in the attack and was struggling to cope with it.

Overcoming the shock of Naruto being a Jinchuriki, he saw the logic behind it; enemies could either assassinate him or kidnap him and turn him into a weapon. He started thinking about what he could do for the young Namikaze, but proceeded to ask Hiruzen about it. "Kakashi, I'm giving you a S-rank mission with appropriate pay, adopt Naruto and protect him as he grows, I would rather not put him into an orphanage when you whom was considered family to the Namikaze's is able to raise him, all the necessary needs will be provided for you" Kakashi while having no qualms about raising his sensei's child, wasn't what people would call parental material, he was an Anbu captain, a very efficient and highly skilled shinobi produced from Konoha." Lord third, I'm not questioning your orders, but I'm not entirely capable of raising child, can I ask of assistance to be provided?"

Pondering for a while, "I believe my daughter-in-law Katsumi will be able to provide some aid, however this will be in effect for only three years, my son and daughter-in-law will be told of Naruto's circumstances. I'm sure you are capable of raising him when he turns four, also if people start questioning about your supposed adoption, just tell them that the boy reminded you of your late sensei and decided to raise him and after my confirmation that Minato's son is deceased, they won't pry too deep." Kakashi nodded to approve of the mission, "He will stay with you now in your old clan compound, which I believe is not destroyed in the attack, Katsumi will arrive tomorrow to assist you, if that is all, you are dismissed."

Taking great care to not alarm and awake his sensei's son, Kakashi made his way to his clan compound which he hasn't entered ever since his father's suicide. It was a two story house with four bedrooms, a spacious living room and kitchen. Upon seeing the amount of dust in the house, created 5 Kage Bunshins (Shadow Clones) to clean up the house while he tended to Naruto. Placing him in his old room, Kakashi created another Kage Bunshin which was filled with all his remaining chakra to keep watch of Naruto while he went to his old apartment to get his belongings.

After setting everything up and the house was in a clean enough state, he felt exhausted and dispelled all but the clone instructed to keep watch of Naruto, he even gave it his signature item that always went wherever he was, the infamous series Icha Icha so that it wouldn't get bored. He immediately went to sleep, sleeping off his exhaustion and the overload of information received today.

 **XxX**

The next morning, he awoke to the sound of knocking on his house door. Groggily making his way to open it, he was treated to the sight of Katsumi and her husband, which made him recall the event the day before. Dispelling his Kage Bunshin, he realised that Naruto didn't make too much of a ruckus and slept perfectly silent which was a relief to him. "Ah Katsumi-san ,Daichi-san, thank you for your assistance, I'm not exactly parent material and I still have my duties as an Anbu, so am I to assume that you and your husband will start living in my house?" Kakashi questioned as he did not expect her husband to be with her.

"Yes Hatake-san, we hope we are not imposing too much, but I believe that my husband and I could learn from this experience as well since we are hoping to have a child soon and Lord third has approved of this as well." Kakashi nodded and replied that it wasn't a problem since his house was able to accommodate all of them. Ushering them in and leading them to Naruto's room, the couple were surprised by the similarities between him and Minato," He really is his father's son, take away the whiskers and we have a carbon copy of the Yondaime, yet not even a day old and he has so many burdens already, what a tragedy."

The day went by with the couple instructing and lecturing Kakashi the ins and outs of raising a child, even though they would be raising the child for three years, they still required Kakashi to understand the fundamentals of things when they were not present. On the more important side, they were wondering the effects of training the child as according to Hiruzen, the demon's chakra will be converted to pure chakra and siphoned to Naruto, thereby resulting in his chakra coils being larger than average.

He may benefit from the influx of chakra but too much chakra will cause terrible chakra control if not taught properly, so it would be a waste if not used properly, genjutsu was out of the question as you needed proper control to execute it. They agreed that after the 4th or 5th year, they would try to get Naruto to start the exercises and skills to better prepare him for the academy, if he had the aptitude for it. After preparation were made, Kakashi looked at the young infant and vowed to himself that he would do whatever it takes to ensure that his sensei's son was taken care, as they would have done for him.

This is the story of one Naruto Uzumaki, full name Naruto Uzumaki Namikaze, adopted brother of Kakashi Hatake and his struggles against life as he faces odds that somehow tie to his luck." Seriously, every mission he goes on somehow blows up to become something big, he has luck in gambling, reverse luck in missions, talk about uneven distribution?"


	2. Chapter 2

**Hello again, i feel that this new chapter will cover a few aspects as to how most of the fights will be like in this series, you might not like it, but i feel that fights similar to the good old days and mostly Sasuke's fights before Susanno had the ninja aspect to it, cunningest, intelligence and creativity all in the fights. I feel that if the story progresses too slowly, the captivating portion of it is lost, i like to rush things yet maintain a stable continuation of the story. Obviously some of the story will be canon but they will be altered and will have an impact in the future. Updates are not too constant, they could range of a week to a month as i'm in college, however it's the holidays for me now so expect weekly updates.**

 **Disclaimer: Naruto not owned by me, blah blah blah**

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(4 years later, Naruto age 4, Kakashi age 20)

The years go by for Naruto in the Hatake household, as we find him seating in the training grounds in the back playing ninja with Kakashi's Nin dogs, primarily Pakkun. His golden blonde hair has gotten longer, but he still retains the childlike manner in his spiky hair, one uncanny resemblance about him is the iconic mask he wears, one very similar to Kakashi's. He claimed that it was cool, but there was another reason for him wearing it.

"Kaka-nii, when are tou-san and kaa-san coming again?" Naruto was used to calling Katsumi and Daichi as parents, which they were delighted to be called and also Kakashi as his older brother whom he also uses last name. However, recently, the couple left the house to continue their duties as Anbu under the Hokage and left Naruto with Kakashi, whom was taught all the necessities of raising a child. Surprisingly enough, Naruto was a relatively well-behaved boy, albeit sometimes being a tad too hyperactive, which was partially explained due to the Kyuubi's chakra and his innate Uzumaki chakra causing a surge of energy within him.

He was also highly perceptive and calm for his age, often asking why the colours of his parents and brothers eyes and hair different from his, he was fine with it even if they didn't tell him he was adopted. He was also very enthusiastic about learning things, a trait which Kakashi put to good use. Also when normal children were shown a jutsu like the **Gokakyuu no Jutsu** (Great Fireball technique) they would freak out. Naruto on the hand while initially surprised would start asking questions on how it worked and tried to learn the different hand-signs, displaying a mind-set that was suitable for the battlefield and for Fuinjutsu as it required one to fully immerse oneself and be perceptive of the seals. He was taught by Kakashi that emotions were a powerful asset and control over it will help in the future.

Many of Kakashi's colleagues like Maito Gai, Kurenai Yuuhi, Asuma Sarutobi and Anko Mitarashi often questioned why he adopted the boy, which he would simply give the reply the Third Hokage told him to say with his usual eye smile. They weren't skeptical about it as Naruto was friendly with all of them and often talked to them when Kakashi brought him along to meet them. Although Naruto was a bit freaked out about Gai's frequent screams of youth, he eventually got used to it though at some point wanted to try the green spandex suit, only for him to be whisk away by the females lecturing him about fashion sense.

Today we find our brother duo walking to the Hokage tower, Hiruzen wanted to start Naruto's training and see first-hand a few things as he claimed. While walking, Naruto easily recognised signs of disgust and animosity towards him from among the civilians and a few ninja's. When he questioned Kakashi about this issue, he was assured that it was something that he was not ready to listen to and that he will be protected so he shouldn't worry about it. Not one to refute his brother, he listened and endured.

However, they were still affecting him somewhat as many children his age were immediately grabbed by their parents to flee when he wanted to play with them. As such, in order to hide his pain, he literally put on a mask covering half his face as a sign to hide his emotions under the guise that it was cool and wanted to follow his brother. Although he was sure his brother was aware of the real reason, which was why he had such a good relationship with many of the dog Nin and occasionally played with them.

Naruto was brought to the Hokage to begin his training because of a certain incident occurring when he was three. Naruto was out at the playground playing with the swing, Katsumi was overlooking him from the benches when an Anbu operative appeared beside her and handed her an envelope.

She was asked to see the Hokage concerning a few issues, "Naru-chan, kaa-san has to go see your grandfather, be a good boy and wait here for me okay?" Katsumi asks with a sweet smile, causing Naruto to nod happily.

Unbeknownst to her, it was soon approaching evening and was the occasional time for most of the civilians to go into pubs and get drunk, a drunken group of them passed by the playground that Naruto was at.

"Hey, look at that, isn't he the monster."

"Yeah, hey it's alone right, why don't we get rid of it."

"Hehe, it would do this village a bloody good service to get rid of him."

They slowly approached Naruto, surrounding the still oblivious boy; they grabbed him and dragged him to a nearby alley. Naruto was able to tell that he was in bad company and tried screaming for help only for fist and slaps to hit him, silencing him as he wept tears and balled himself up. Naruto momentarily lost consciousness and appeared somewhere dark with water knee deep surrounding him, it was a sewer but Naruto was still unable to identify it. He followed the sound of low growling only to chance upon a large gate, there two ominous eyes stared back at him and forced him back to reality. Unknown to Naruto, this was Naruto's first encounter with the famed Kyuubi.

After a period of time, Naruto was still getting kicked till the sound of bodies dropping brought his attention back to his surroundings. All the people that were physically abusing him were either dead or unconscious on the ground, with an Anbu looking them all with hatred in his eyes.

Naruto immediately scampered up to the Anbu operative and cried himself to sleep while hugging him; the Anbu which Naruto was able to recognise through the hair carried the poor boy to the infirmary. Hiruzen and Katsumi were informed of this, he immediately executed the drunkards and it took a whole two weeks before Naruto was able to go out of the house through great effort and consoling from Katsumi and her husband.

Entering the Hokage's office, "JiJi!" Naruto cried out happily and glomped the aged Hokage in his seat. Hugging the young boy back, Hiruzen settled the enthusiastic boy down and gestured him to seat. Internally he was sighing to himself, how such a young cheerful boy could be facing such animosity from the village? The S-class information was somehow leaked out to the ninja populace and soon word spread out everywhere, he found out that the culprit was a snobbish and greedy nobleman who blurted it out while drunk. He was executed, but the damage was already done and he couldn't recall back all the information, all he could do was ensure the boy's safety but nevertheless the boy's emotional strength and mental state was affected. He was upset that the village couldn't understand the difference between a kunai and a kunai sealed into a scroll, the scroll was not the kunai and the boy was not a demon.

"Naruto my boy, your brother and I want to test something out that we ninja's have, it's called chakra, ok? We want you to sit cross-legged and put up a ram sign which we've shown you already and concentrate" Naruto did as he was told and sat in the middle of the room, holding up the ram sign, he relaxed his mind. "Now if you feel anything, something warm perhaps, tried and reach out to it and pull" following the next set of instructions, Naruto dug deep and searched for the warm feeling, after a few moments he found it but found two sources, one warm and the other cold and chilly. Acting on instinct, he pulled on the warmer source.

What transpired next shocked the witnesses in the room, a blue shimmer of light appeared around Naruto's body, Hiruzen was about to congratulate him when the light suddenly burst out and enveloped Naruto's body with 5 times the amount he first emitted. "Naruto, Naruto, NARUTO!" Kakashi yelled out trying to get Naruto's attention, he managed to break Naruto out of his stupor only for Naruto to see the papers which were on Hiruzen's desk all trashed about.

He was about to comment on it when he felt something at the corner of his eye, it was small but it was there. Naruto stood up and began walking to the corner of the room, both Hiruzen and Kakashi eyeing him curiously. "Ne Jiji, how come I feel something from this corner, it's like chakra but it's very small and it feels….surprised?" Naruto said whilst pointing at the shadow in the corner.

This was a shocker to everyone in the room, Naruto at the age of four managed to identify and feel chakra; he was a sensor which was very rare amongst common ninja's and were highly valued. "Hawk, come out" suddenly the shadow in the corner started shifting and distorting and a person came out becoming completely visible. This surprised Naruto, who yelped and hid behind Kakashi. Laughing at his little brother's plight, Kakashi turned to Hiruzen with a focused look. "Lord third, I would like for Naruto to try again to prove our suspicions, if it is true we could start training him in it." Agreeing to Kakashi's proposal, turned to Naruto and asked him to sense what he is feeling.

Naruto once more concentrated to sense the chakra he felt before, once he recognised it, he unconsciously sensed everyone within the room. "Eh jiji, you feel happy, excited and very warm, nii-san feels happy and surprised, I feel something else, something small, three of them but I can't tell what they feel" Naruto said with a slight hesitance and he was unaware of what he just did.

Hiruzen stared in awe at the young boy, the boy had a sensing ability that could also sense emotions, it was similar to the Nidaime Hokage's sensing ability, but on a lower scale. "Naruto, it seems you have a sensing ability, you can sense chakra and find other people and their emotions; this is very useful and can help many people when you become a ninja, but that would come at another time and we would train you in using this." Naruto nodded happily since he always wasn't one to shy away from helping someone.

"Lord third, should we try and test his elemental affinity or we start on his chakra control?" Kakashi asked as he suspected either of those subjects would come out soon. Pondering for a while, Hiruzen decided that Naruto wasn't ready for elemental training yet and should first start controlling his chakra if the earlier outburst wasn't indication enough. "I believe we should work on his chakra control first, it might too soon for elemental and could cause untold destruction if his chakra is not properly maintained and controlled." Kakashi nodded and proceeded to leave with Naruto for dinner.

Ichiraku Ramen was a small ramen stand within Konoha's central district, it was a convenient place to have a meal at, close by to the Hatake household and a safe haven for Naruto as he dubbed ramen as 'the food of the gods' and he also wasn't charged an overpriced amount unlike other restaurants. "Teuchi Oji-san, Ayame-nee-chan! Get me and nii-san the usual!" Upon seeing the masked brother duo, Teuchi began making the huge amount of portions that would only satisfy one Uzumaki Naruto.

While waiting, they began discussing the types of training required for chakra control; Kakashi soon explained that the Leaf Concentration exercise will be the first step to learning where to pinpoint the chakra sent. From there, he would be able to send chakra to the necessary tenketsu to create jutsu, for now they would stick with the classics and improve on Naruto's basics like shurikenjutsu. Kakashi had also taught Naruto the secret to eating with the mask on, it was simple really, observe eye movement and use a temporary distraction to eat as much as you can in that moment. Considering Naruto's love for ramen where he basically inhales the stuff, it was a skill that Naruto took pride in.

 **XxX**

The next day, Naruto begins the leaf concentration exercise, which much to his disappointment and agitation was proving to be a tough challenge. He understood the importance of chakra control after a lecture from Kakashi, what point would using jutsu do if you can't even control it and may very well harm yourself? Another thing he was getting agitated about was that this was an academy exercise and the easiest one, he was told that he had larger chakra reserves compared to other people so he would have a harder time, but he didn't expect that it would affect him this much.

Going by the day by day routine, Naruto eventually learned the correct amount to use to stick the leaf to his forehead. Now moving on to a harder exercise was to balance a leaf on each finger and spin it in one direction using chakra, which was extremely difficult for Naruto as he couldn't focus the right amount to every finger. In the meantime, he was taught an exercise that would require him to be blindfolded to help hone his sensor abilities as well as his smell and hearing by training with the dog Nins. Being taught by Kakashi worked wonders for him, his skill in throwing the kunai and shuriken improved tremendously; he was able to mostly hit the bullseye. Over the months after that, he was train to aim for targets set up by Kakashi that had small imprints of chakra in them, allowing him to sense them even while blindfolded.

After an excruciating amount of time, he completed the next level of the leaf exercise and was ready to learn how to mold chakra in order to perform techniques. They started with the basics, the **Henge** (transformation technique) and the **Kawarimi no jutsu** (Body replacement technique). Naruto was able to see that although they were very basic jutsu, they were still very useful on the field. The Henge could trick enemy shinobi and infiltrate a base; the Kawarimi could allow the user to use the opening when the enemy let their guard down. He got the jutsu's down in no time, but sought to improve himself till it required little to no hand signs to perform the jutsu, a belief Kakashi instilled into Naruto that even if you got the jutsu down its effectiveness relies on the speed and precision you can perform it, catching an enemy off guard changes the tide of the battle in an instant. Therefore Naruto sought to perfect everything he was taught instead of gouging for jutsu to satisfy his hunger. What was power without any skill to back it up with?

Most people would consider Naruto to be a prodigy to be able to perform such feats at the age of 5, but it was due to sheer determination and hard work coupled with innate talent that allowed him to excel till this point. He would spend most nights in the training ground working to the bone, with perfecting his techniques and shurikenjutsu that he even caught the eye of Gai. At the age of 6, Gai admired his youthful rival's little brother enthusiasm that he started to help train in the style of the **Goken** (strong fist), teaching him the forms and katas of the style. Naruto occasionally spars with Gai on the occasion when both are free, at the current moment Naruto was well-rounded and prepared for the academy. Naruto could still remember how the day went; it was definitely one of the weirdest days of his life.

 _(Flashback-)_

 _Naruto was heading home from his usual training regime consisting of Shurikenjutsu and Ninjutsu from the academy, when he stumbled upon a hand standing Gai 'walking' around the village in his usual disgusting green spandex. Naruto was told previously by Kakashi to not mix around too much with Gai, lest he be 'corrupted'. Naruto didn't understand the meaning of it though; Gai seemed just like a guy who was a training fanatic with a bad fashion sense, nothing too bad right?_

 _So Naruto did the unthinkable and went up to Gai, "Good evening, Gai-san". Gai flipped himself over and look at Naruto; his face suddenly took a twisted turn and suddenly became a grin. Naruto was unnerved by this; you don't want a guy with a bowel cut and glued caterpillar eyebrows in a horrible green spandex to grin at you. Naruto started having second thoughts, 'Was Nii-san right about this guy?'_

" _Ah young Naruto, what a Youthful day it is, I'm sure my eternal rival has kept you youthful every day. However today, you should not spend your time walking around the village; you should be showing your youth to the village. Come Naruto, LET US FAN THE VILLAGE'S FLAMES OF YOUTH AND DISPLAY THE POWER OF YOUTH!" Gai yelled overdramatically as he grabbed Naruto to embark on a mission of Youth, while Naruto was desperately trying to get away._

 _Kakashi was at home reading his book as usual, when the front door opened and in crawled Naruto who looked like he got caught by a bunch of Sasuke's fangirl groups and mauled by them. "H-h-he's a monster, too much youth, too much green, too much caterpillars" Naruto repeated to himself as if it was a mantra._

" _Let me guess, you talked to Gai didn't you? Didn't I warn you not to approach him too familiarly?" Kakashi says with amusement in his voice. "I remember the first time he came to challenge me for our first battle, he grabbed me out of the shower to see who could climb the Hokage monument with our fingers."_

" _He said that he found my enthusiasm youthful and wanted me to meet him again for more youthful training, should I?" Naruto said with fear in his voice. Gai seriously spooked him, not matter where he ran, hide or disguised, Gai always found him. "I don't mind you training with him, he is good or the best at Taijutsu, so he can help with you that, just don't start wearing that spandex if he offers it to you, God forbid." Naruto and Kakashi shivered at that._

Even though at his age, he had surpassed most of his age group and even older students, Hiruzen would rather Naruto enter at a later point in order for him to enjoy his childhood and not to attract too much attention. Ever since his status had been made public, Naruto's identity in Konoha took a plunder, add the fact that if he entered the academy at the same age as his prodigious brother would cause unnecessary attention. It would be until another year that an incident occurred that shook the very core of Konoha and affected the elemental nations.

Naruto still remembered a lesson he learned from Hiruzen after questioning the reasoning behind hiding his abilities which he worked hard for; shouldn't you showcase your skills that you work hard for? Naruto was brought atop the Hokage Monument with Hiruzen and bore witness to the entirety that was The Village Hidden in the Leaves. Hiruzen questioned Naruto as to what he strived he for in his career as a shinobi, something which Naruto was tongue-tied about.

He still remembered what he said, the next words he said bore a hole into Naruto's memories and he made it his Nindo. "Being a shinobi is to protect and serve the village, that is important, but at the same time, what is more important is that you are protecting what is precious to you in the village. Being Hokage is to know that the whole village and essentially its people are precious to you and will do anything to protect it, no matter the cost." Wise words were spoken from Hiruzen that day that showcased his years of experience and wisdom that he gained serving as Hokage for two terms.

Naruto was informed that if his abilities were shown, potential enemies would be alerted and harm Konoha in the process in order to fulfil their desires. Naruto realised that if people like his parents and brother weren't around, he would suffer and feel remorse, it was then that he decided to protect what is precious to him even if he didn't have a goal.

 **XxX**

(Naruto age 7, Kakashi age 23)

Kakashi was still in the Anbu and out on a mission, so Naruto was preparing dinner in the kitchen, since his brother was out frequently he learned how to cook and majority of the time Kakashi would praise him on how good his food was. Tonight's dish wasn't anything complex to make, rice with omelette, or omurice. He just liked to be creative about making food, if something makes the food taste better, you put it in. While eating, his sensor ability being enhanced by years of training picked up a chill in the air, the sky was darker and seemed eerie. Naruto looked out the window wondering if something bad was happening, he just had this feel in his stomach that suggested so.

Elsewhere in Konoha, people were dying, not just any people but people once part of a prestigious clan that founded Konohagakure, the Uchiha Clan. Here we can find Sasuke Uchiha currently the only other Uchiha left in the world on his hands and knees crying and begging for his brother to stop. His brother, Uchiha Itachi, renowned prodigy on par with Kakashi and Anbu captain at the age of 13, was the murderer of the Uchiha Clan and slaughtered everyone except for his little brother. "Foolish little brother, I did it, I killed the clan to prove my power, however you are too weak to prove anything, you've always wanted to surpass me. That's why I'm going to let you live. If you wish to kill me, then hate me, despise me and by all means flee, cling to your wretched life. Come at me only when you achieve these eyes, only then will I acknowledge you." baring the Mangekyou Sharingan, he puts his little brother into the Tsukuyomi and tortures him by witnessing the deaths of everyone in the Uchiha clan.

The shockwave that affected Konoha caused it to spiral down to chaos, everybody was panicking and lost, why would the supposed prodigy kill his own clan? Now labelled as an S-rank Nin, Uchiha Itachi was forever lost to Konoha, with his little brother being the only Uchiha left alive loyal to Konoha. Meetings were carried out, arguments were held and the main question was 'what do we do to get the last Uchiha to remain loyal to Konoha?' Obviously, the answer was something that made the shinobi council frown on and the civilian council to gleefully agree for obvious reasons. They would treat him as royalty, use whatever means necessary to keep him in Konoha, give him women, money etc. They will also invoke the CRA (clan restoration act) and allow polygamy, which were only meant for endangered clans like the Uchiha's now. The shinobi council had no choice but to follow through with the plan, the civilian council on the other hand were waiting for the opportunity to amass more power through offering their daughters to the young Uchiha, they were becoming more bold as Hiruzen aged and lost most of his backbone that earned him the moniker 'The god of shinobi'.

Now another year had passed, , Naruto at the age of 8 as was the common age for entry into the academy while standing a bit tall for his age at 135cm was making his way to the academy. Suddenly his enhanced hearing picked a cry of distress and few sneers from inside the academy compound. Making his way to the sound, he found a group of boy ganging up and bullying a girl. "Hahaha, look at the freak, those pale of eyes makes her look like a ghost" the boys taunted and made the girl cry a few silent tears.

Not one to resist offering help, with speed honed from his training with Gai, he disabled and put down the boys quickly and efficiently. "She has those eyes because of her clan, idiots, also do be warned that she is not a freak or ghost, she is a female and the clan heir to the Hyuga Clan, so if you antagonize her even more, she can tell her clan and you and your family are dead, get it?" after being brutally beaten, the boys scampered away fearing that the Hyuga will rat out on them." Hello miss, are you okay, did they give you any injuries?" Hinata looked up to see deep and startling blue eyes that seemed to pierce your soul, she got lost looking at them that she didn't register Naruto shaking her to get her response.

Finally back on track, she saw that her hero had sun-kissed blond hair and a face mask that covered majority of his facial features. He was also wearing a green scarf and grey jacket since it was the winter season and he was also relatively taller compared to the other boys she'd seen. Giving a small cry "eep!" her face turned crimson red and she started stuttering in responding to her saviour. "T-T-Thank you for h-helping me, I-I am f-f-fine" Hinata tried valiantly to respond. "I see, well that's good, are you starting the academy this year?" Naruto asked cheerfully and smiled even more when he got a nod, "Cool, hey let's go already or we are gonna be late for our first day of class!" Naruto started dragging her to their classroom in a fast pace.

Arriving on time, the both of them settled on sitting in the back row with Hinata's face still blushing a storm. Soon, their teacher for the academy entered in the form of Iruka Umino, having the common tied up ponytail for men, a horizontal scar in the middle of his nose and the flak jacket issued to Chunin rank and above. "Alright alright, settle down children, I know this is your first day in the academy and that you all excited, so why don't you go ahead and introduce yourselves to the class, for example your name and your dream" After a few people finished, it reached a certain group of shinobi who were beneficial to Konoha in the future.

"My name is Shikamaru Nara, my dream is to cloud watch all day" most people sweatdropped at the mention, ' _cloud watching_?' "My name is Choji Akimichi; my dream is build a palace of food" " _Another weird dream_ "most people noticed. "My name is Ino Yamanaka; my dream is to make my families flower shop famous!" ' _Finally a normal dream_ ' people sighed in relief.

"My name is Kiba Inuzaka and my partner Akamaru; my dream is to become a powerful ninja." Many people wanted to go over and play with Akamaru, since he was small and rather cute. "My name is Shino Aburame; my dream is see all the world's insects, why, because my clan is proficient with insects" ' _Creepy and gross_ ' were on everybody's mind. "M-my name is Hinata Hyuga; my d-d-dream is to make my clan p-proud of me" ' _what's up with her stammering?_ '

"My name is Sakura Haruno, I have a dream but I don't want to say it" she says this blushing, ' _why is she blushing_ '. "My name is Sasuke Uchiha, I don't have a dream, I have a goal that you don't need to know" 'So cool' many of the girls thought, they were told by their parents to try and befriend Sasuke and win him over, Sakura whose mother was in the civilian council was very direct and forceful about this, she was overwhelmed for the lure and lust of money. Taking advantage of a young child's gullible nature, Mebuki implanted a plan into poor Sakura's head that her goal in the academy was to impress and 'win over' Sasuke, using the guise that she will get the man of her dreams and all the money. Mebuki was unaware of how far Sakura would take this new mind-set that she had in the future, if only she knew.

"My name is Naruto Hatake…" before he could carry on, Iruka, who appeared to be in shock, asked Naruto rather forcefully "Are you related to Hatake Kakashi?" "He is my big brother, although I'm adopted, since I didn't don't have that poofy silver hair of his, my birth name is Naruto Uzumaki which I prefer to use and anyway my dream is unknown at the moment but I want to be an efficient ninja who is able to protect Konoha and my precious people in it". Many found his answer to be quite mature, but many of their parents told them to steer clear of Naruto as they deemed him dangerous, so nobody said anything until someone asked "Iruka-sensei, who is this Hatake Kakashi?"

"Well he is a famous ninja known in Konoha and other countries as a prodigy and is currently an A-rank ninja; his mission records are also legendary" many people were in awe of Naruto's brother, especially Sasuke whose brother was the same. Unbeknownst to most of them, Naruto was furiously scratching his head, till he banged his head alerting everyone to him. "Argh nii-san got more famous again, *sigh* looks like I have to cook and eat alone again" his classmates were all confused, why wouldn't they want their older sibling to be famous? They were not aware that the more famous you were, the more missions you have to undertake.

"Alright students, now I want you to…" the lesson carried on, with Naruto zoning out and feeling rather bored, the only highlight that came about from joining the academy was that he 'could' make friends, but that itself was proving to be a challenge as when he tried to make small talk with other people, they would ignore him. Sighing to himself, he decided to just go through with it and made getting friends his current goal.

 **XxX**

Over the years, time spent for Naruto (age 12) was in one word 'dull', the things that were tested were things that could be found in the library, what use was all this knowledge when you couldn't put it to use in the battlefield. Naruto followed Hiruzen's plan and decided to act like a complete idiot in order to deceive them all into thinking that he was a talentless nobody. He slept through most of Iruka's lessons much to his infuriation; add to the fact that Naruto always scored the worst among his year caused Iruka to start pulling his hair. Truth was the questions were so easy that Naruto started dozing off without writing anything, giving the excuse that he didn't know how to answer.

Naruto also scored mediocre for his Shurikenjutsu and Ninjutsu, he was easily called the dead last by his fellow classmates, something which Naruto did not take pride in but said nothing about it. During the years in the academy, it frustrated Naruto to no end about a certain pair of people in class. Sasuke Uchiha was the class pretty boy and prodigy that many could guess that he would be nominated as Rookie of the year.

Combine his Superiority complex using his Uchiha name and the fact that his clan's name was religiously worshipped had put a pampered mind set on the Uchiha. He became an emo ever since the massacre and would brood all day long in class. Add his superiority complex and his pampered mind-set; you end up with a brooding emo that always tries to one up you at every opportunity he got. Seriously, it was like he had huge stick shoved up his ass.

Sakura Haruno was what made the other half of pair, she was Sasuke's number one fan girl and even though her scores were the highest for intellect, she failed to see that Sasuke was annoyed by her behaviour. Even a dimwit was able to tell from his facial expressions, but she continued to persist, even going as far as to compete against her once best friend Ino, they broke up their friendship because they were both fighting over a guy. Another issue was that she was very physically abusive towards others, if a person asked her to shut up, she would hit them and say not to disturb her time with her 'Sasuke-kun'. There was even a rumour going around that she had built a shrine in her closet just for him; Naruto's group of friends were equally amused.

Naruto was able to make a few friends in his class that he would call trustworthy, the first friends he made were Shikamaru and Choji, they were pretty chill about everything and Naruto often joined them for cloud watching and played shogi with Shikamaru, Choji even offered Naruto his snacks which were considered a huge form of trust amongst the Akimichi clan. Something that Shikamaru and Naruto had in common was that they both found the tests too easy and dozed off; this caused Shikamaru to wonder why Naruto was playing the fool in the class.

Next was Shino, apparently his behaviour and mannerism which was considered weird and creepy by many was actually the normal Aburame clan way of talking and acting. Seeing no problem with it, he confronted Shino and said that if his speech mannerism and his insects were part of him then Naruto was fine with it as he had no right to judge other people as he himself hid behind a mask. Naruto and Shino immediately hit it off; occasionally they would have a debate in class about certain people, mainly Sasuke and Sakura, support their ideas with facts then laugh about it. The idea about a shrine built by Sakura occurred during one of their talks, which they both agreed sounded logical. Shino also questioned his logic of failing in the class when he could excel, since he could tell that Naruto was intelligent, but all Naruto just did was put a finger over his lips and said it was a secret.

Hinata who was initially too shy was ushered and persuaded to join in by Naruto. This led to her becoming slightly more confident as the group of friends praised her abilities unlike her family, which prompt her to work harder to make her family proud. She was now the runner-up for kunoichi of the year based on her other skills alone which dominated Sakura's, only lacking behind due to Sakura's huge lead in intellect. Something that all his friends were curious about was what was underneath Naruto's mask, since nobody has seen his face before.

Kiba and Akamaru on the other hand was an odd pair, Akamaru was friendly with Naruto but was often dismissed by Kiba as he believed that Naruto was a loser and a dead last, so he shouldn't hang out with him. Typical boy behaviour, Naruto thought when he witnessed it. He would give treats to Akamaru whenever Kiba wasn't around or looking to the delight of Akamaru.

When it came to the ninjutsu portion in the academy, Naruto displayed that he could perform the jutsu's. However, the one jutsu that no matter how much control Naruto had on his chakra just could not perform was the clone jutsu, which Naruto noticed Sasuke taking great amusement out of it. Kakashi promised that he will teach him a new clone technique that he will be able to perform before the graduation exam.

 **XxX**

However, there came one incident that surprised everybody including his teachers, the class was having a Taijutsu lesson and there was a spar that included Sasuke and Naruto. Sasuke's fan girls were shouting praises as usual and for Sasuke to kick Naruto's ass. Naruto acted being the lazy and aloof character that he created in the academy, he would just dodge a few swings and allow a few hits before forfeiting, the same procedure as usual since his wounds healed up faster than usual, so what could go wrong?

Naruto however didn't expect a taunt from Sasuke after dodging a few blows, "What's the matter, Dobe? Are you too scared to fight back, maybe your brother is too useless to teach you anything and they call him a prodigy, hn" Sasuke snorted as he began to rush Naruto. Naruto had shadows over his eyes, nobody insulted his big brother, not some pampered brooding emo. He was the one person he respected more than anybody else; Naruto was not going to take this lightly.

What occurred next happen in a flash (hehe pun), one second they saw Sasuke about to land a blow on Naruto, the next they found Sasuke kicked into a tree that had a dent in it. Naruto still had his leg outstretched; he was glaring holes at Sasuke who appeared to be unconscious. Naruto slowly lowered his leg and look at his classmates, who were staring wide eyed at him while he could see Shikamaru smirking.

Sitting next to Shikamaru as the class primarily the girls (except Hinata) scampered up to Sasuke and brought him to the medical room. "So you finally took off your mask, I was wondering when you'd do it" Shikamaru says as he lay on the ground, hands over head. "You haven't seen anything yet, that was only a small portion and I have plenty of masks on right now ya know." Naruto says smirking and following Shikamaru's actions. This only served to make Shikamaru even more curious about the enigma that was Naruto Uzumaki.

Sasuke was quick to justify that he had slipped up and Naruto took advantage of that, nothing more nothing less. Of course, with the whole class except Naruto's friends rallying behind him, not much else was said about Naruto's sudden leap in skill. Although Sasuke considered Naruto as somewhat of a rival from that point on, something to the ire of Naruto. Hinata though was the same as usual, she was already aware of the false persona that Naruto put up and that he had hidden skill that he displayed on the first day of school to save her. Though, she wondered why as well, amongst Naruto's friends the reason behind Naruto's false mask was as mysterious as his face, which was always concealed.

 **XxX**

Today, Kakashi was going to teach and find out what elemental affinity Naruto has, "Otouto, today I'm going to teach you about the elements and their strengths and weaknesses, Fire is best used offensively in mid to long-ranged and it is strong against wind but weak against water. Wind is very versatile as it can utilise the air around us easily and can be used offensively in mid-ranged to deal cutting and slashing damage, it is also the best support type for fire jutsu as it can power it up, it is strong against lightning but weak against fire as the fire will grow stronger if you combat it with a wind jutsu, causing greater harm to yourself. Lightning is best used in short to mid-range as it allows for piercing damage and fast movement, it is strong against earth but weak against wind and it also has a relation with water to allow combined attacks called collaboration attacks similar to fire and wind. Earth is extremely versatile; it can go from short to long range and can form multiple defensive jutsu's, it is strong against water but weak against lightning. Finally water, it is also highly versatile, but best to use when there is a water source around, it is all range type as well and can manipulated to anything the caster wants, it is strong against fire but weak against earth. Now seeing the pro and cons of each, you have to remember that on the battlefield to utilise your element properly and efficiently or else you might run out of chakra and get you or your teammates killed."

After the proceedings were done, Kakashi handed Naruto a slip of chakra paper and asked him to channel chakra through it. The result was surprising to say the least, but Kakashi figured he should have seen this coming. The paper was torn in half; one side was crumpled while the other had slight shreds to it. " _So he has wind and lightning, judging by the additional shreds I suppose he took after Kushina's potent wind element after all, she was a monster with that ninjutsu style of hers. Since Minato sensei's main affinity was lightning, I suppose that makes sense"_ Kakashi thought while Naruto was staring at him waiting for his answer. "Otouto, it looks like you have two affinities, which are rare for kids your age, you have wind and lightning, essentially making you a short to mid-ranged combat specialist. I can help you with lightning since it's my affinity, but for wind I suggest you ask Asuma the only other wind user in Konoha that I'm aware of."

Kakashi instructed Naruto in the first assignment to learn how to channel lightning chakra through a leaf, using the analogy that a single point of chakra branches out to form infinite branches. If the assignment is done successfully, the leaf will fully wrinkle indicating that he can move on the next step of constructing lightning. Leaving Naruto to his work, Kakashi made his way to consult Asuma to help his little brother when he is free. Ever since finishing the chakra control exercises, Naruto was capable of channelling chakra into a tenketsu of his choice, yet was finding it difficult to wrinkle the leaf. Sure a few wrinkles appeared but it was miniscule compared to on the chakra paper, eventually he was told that lightning travels continuously and quickly, which he used to imagine his chakra flow in the leaf.

Once completing the task after two months, he moved on to constructing lightning itself, which he was asked to imagine his chakra working and flowing like a spark of electricity, similar to using the leaf. Eventually, he was successful in producing the sparks on his fingertips; although small it was still a huge leap for Naruto. Practising day by day to make the current bigger and faster, he was finally given his first lightning jutsu. **Raiton: Jibashi** (Lightning release: Electromagnetic Murder), a basic lightning release technique with the hand signs Boar, Ram, Snake, Horse and dragon. It could vary in power from the chakra input, from a small surge to a powerful current of lightning that can rip through solid rock. He was made to promise not to use the jutsu to harm any of classmates or allies before being a graduating the academy, but was allowed to practise it.

Similarly for the wind element exercise, Naruto was tasked to picture two streams of wind cutting against each other to form a sharp and precise line. He was to Asuma's surprise able to accomplish the task in two days, cutting the leaf in a perfect half. When Asuma questioned Kakashi, he replied that he had no clue, but Kakashi figured that Kushina's potent chakra allowed Naruto to learn and process quickly. Naruto was also able to grasp the concept of the wind element much easier that lightning, learning his jutsu which according to Asuma the jutsu was versatile on the field and can be used for many purposes. Fuuton: Daitoppa (Wind release: Great Breakthrough) was a C-rank jutsu with the hand signs Tiger, Ox, Dog, Rabbit, Snake.

After that, Naruto spent the rest of his days before the graduation practising the jutsu and experimenting with it. He managed to minimise the hand signs required to provide the same amount of effectiveness, he was also trying to better its efficiency like using a wire to trap and conduct the electricity to the enemy or hitting the kunai and shuriken with the wind technique to increase the speed and piercing power.

A week before the graduation exam, he was taught like he was promised a jutsu that was similar to the clone jutsu. It instantly became his favourite jutsu; the Kage Bunshin jutsu (shadow clone technique) allows the user to form solid clones that had chakra in them, it also had other variations. It allowed the user to surprise the enemy, cast multiple jutsu's and allow for a replacement with your clones to avoid damage which allowed you an opportunity to strike. The best effect of this technique was that whatever the clones that dispersed did, their memory would be transferred back to the user. It meant that it allowed for infiltration without danger and to test an enemy to get information for the user to use. This also means that if the clones were to train and read something, the time that usually took a person to complete a task could be shortened tremendously.

Naruto was a bit miffed that he wasn't taught this earlier, but was lectured by his brother that the backlash suffered when the clones dispersed could disorientate a person and too much information could prove harmful. Naruto was only allowed to train with 20 clones a day even if he could make more, it proved useful as he was able to master the jutsu's in his arsenal at a faster pace.

 **XxX**

On the day of the graduation exam, "Naruto Uzumaki!" he told everybody to call him by his birth name as his brother whom had many enemies could use Naruto against him, when they heard of his adopted surname. After a few 'good luck' from his friends, Naruto entered the room to see Iruka and the assistant teacher Mizuki.

Iruka was not that critical about Naruto; he did his job equally and fairly for all the students, something which Naruto came to respect him for. Mizuki on the other hand was constantly sneering and glaring at Naruto, always trying to disrupt his progress every time. They could range from faulty tools, to genjutsu applied on test paper and even underhanded tricks during spars. Mizuki's chakra feel was also venomous and malignant in nature, something that Naruto took note of. "Alright Naruto, I want you to perform the three basic jutsu's in any order you wish" Naruto perform the first two easily, transforming into his brother and replacing himself with Iruka, when it finally came to the clone jutsu, Naruto poofed up 20 real solid clones.

This shocked both teachers, "Naruto, why do you know a Jonin level technique?" asked Iruka.

"Since I couldn't perform the clone jutsu due to my reserves being too large, nii-san got permission from Hokage-sama to teach me the Kage Bunshin" Naruto replied nonchalantly.

Accepting his answer, "Congratulations, Naruto you passed the exam, here is your headband and the necessary papers for registration." Iruka replied with a smile as did Mizuki, but Naruto could sense that there was controlled anger and hatred within his chakra. Turning a blind eye to this, Naruto left the room and join his friends who passed the exam as well, who wanted to head out and celebrate at Ichiraku's courtesy of Naruto's suggestion.

Before he was able to leave, he was called back by Mizuki, ushering his friends to go ahead without him. "Naruto, there is a special test given to such individuals to test their capabilities that can allow them to be promoted to Chunin on the spot, this is your chance to prove to the class your prowess, all you have to do is locate the Scroll of Seals in the Hokage Tower and bring it to the designated location where the others will evaluate." Mizuki replied with a reassuring smile, hoping to use Naruto's status as dead last to pressure him. _"I know nii-san said that these kinds of tests were only applicable during times of war but it doesn't involve the Scroll of Seals, Mizuki is planning something and he knows I'm close to the Hokage and his chakra just confirms it. I'll play along and warn Jiji."_ Naruto thought after analysing Mizuki's words.

Naruto agreed to the test and put on fake enthusiasm, he was given the 'test' details, "Remember to be there with the scroll at 10 pm tonight" with that Mizuki shunshined away. Seeing that it was 7pm, Naruto quickly made his way to the Hokage Tower. Climbing in through the window like he usually does, Naruto found Hiruzen sitting at his desk reading the orange book that his brother likes. Jumping through the window, he landed in front of Hiruzen who was startled slightly. "Naruto, how many times must I say that you should climb in through the window?" "Meh, windows are cool and you should really pay attention to your surroundings instead of your book and if I'm hearing correctly from Neko-san's growl in the corner, you are reading that perverted book again" the shadow in the corner started snickering away to confirm Naruto's accusations.

"Okay, so what is it that I can do for you and congratulations for graduating the exams" Hiruzen replied with a warming smile. "Hokage-sama…" this immediately alerted the occupants in the room, Naruto only ever called Hiruzen 'Hokage-sama' if it was something serious. " I believe there is a traitor among the shinobi population, Mizuki from the academy has just notified me of a test that requires me to steal the Scroll of Sealing in order to pass a 'secret test' to be promoted to Chunin."

Hiruzen put on a serious face, "Are you sure of this Naruto? Accusing a shinobi like that is not without consequences."

"Positive" Naruto handed over the details he was given to further prove his point.

"Alright, Naruto I'm giving you a B-rank mission, you will head to the location with a shadow clone copy of the scroll, an Anbu group will there to support you if things go haywire. If confirmed that Mizuki is a traitor, you are to detain and capture. Is that clear?" after Naruto nodded. He saw a shadow clone of Hiruzen walking towards him with a scroll, receiving the scroll Naruto set off to complete his mission.

After a few minutes of travelling on the outskirts of Konoha, Naruto arrived at the designated point. He could see Mizuki standing between a few trees waiting and walked to greet Naruto when he heard Naruto approaching. "Ah yes, very good job Naruto, you pass the exam excellently, as promised you will be promoted to Chunin, now give me the scroll, BEFORE I PRY IT FROM YOUR DEAD CORPSE YOU DEMON!" with that Mizuki rushed to Naruto and kicked him away, leaving the scroll laying on the ground.

"Hahaha, now I have the scroll and will receive power form Lord Orochimaru and get to kill the demon, my day just keeps getting better!" Mizuki yelled with a maniacal laughter. "Demon?" Naruto said confused, he was aware that people were afraid of him and with his enhanced hearing; he occasionally heard faint whispers of demon and fox demon. He checked his body daily and found nothing demon related, so was clueless to what people were referring to. "Of course you stupid demon, you are a demon, 12 years ago, the Kyuubi attacked Konoha and was said to be defeated by the Yondaime, but the truth was he sealed it, he sealed it into a young boy and that boy was you, YOU ARE THE NINE-TAILED FOX BOY!"

All the facts came together as Naruto stood still, his whisker marks, his higher than normal chakra reserves, his abnormal healing factor and the way everybody was ignoring like the plague. Although he was pissed, he felt that the people couldn't be stupider, _the fox was sealed in me, but I'm not the fox, I'm just the container, what a bunch of dumbasses._

Remembering that he had a mission to accomplish and that Mizuki was confirmed a traitor, he arrived next to Mizuki in a burst of speed honed under Gai's tutelage and roundhouse kicked Mizuki in the head, sending him sailing into a tree. Immediately using the moment to his advantage, he created two shadow clones which the three combined detained Mizuki with ninja wire. Forming the ram sign, **Raiton: Jibashi (Lightning release: Electromagnetic murder),** the three cried out and electricity sped towards Mizuki through the wire and hit him. Mizuki convulsed and passed out; the Anbu hidden in the shadows came out and carried him away. Neko who was in charge of the team came out and congratulated him on a job well done.

Back at the Hokage tower, Hiruzen was immensely proud of his surrogate grandson, not even becoming a genin yet able to detain a Chunin with ease, the old man envisioned that Naruto was going to become a great shinobi in the future. However he had to address the information that Mizuki leaked out, but was surprised that Naruto took it maturely and stated that he wasn't the fox but the jailor instead.

Hiruzen was saddened when he was questioned about Naruto's real parents, whether they abandoned him because of his tenant, something he quickly rectified and said that his parents would be proud of him, but sadly could not tell the identity of his parents. Giving Naruto his pay for completing the mission, he dismissed him to allow him to get ready for the ceremony tomorrow.

The next day, many of the Jonin who were discussing in the conference room to decide who they were going to pick, but many got wind of Naruto's actions the day before by a certain Neko and a scarecrow that was proud of his little brother. This caused many to be confused by Naruto's actions, he was voted as the dead last by the academy, chunin's earned their rank and for a boy not yet registered as a ninja to beat him was big news. For a group of people, they were now fighting over who got to picked Naruto and arguing with their reasons, these people were Kurenai, Asuma and Kakashi. This served to confuse people even more, why were three Jonin's fighting over the dead last?

"I'm choosing Naruto, he has the wind element which I have and that makes it so I can help him perfect it, my team also needs a sensor. With shikamaru's brains and Naruto's skill and creativity, my team will be rolling through enemies." Asuma argued with his facts. "My team is all out tracking type, with Naruto being a sensor and having keen sense of smell on par with the Inuzaka's, coupled with his usage of Kage Bunshin he could provide the muscle of the group, I can help him with his chakra control and balance my team out. He is also able to bring out the confidence in Hinata, whom is now striving to be a successful kunoichi, unlike her past self." Kurenai countered with her own facts.

"Naruto is my little brother so I know best of what to teach him, I've already been his teacher for years. I've also been assigned the Uchiha and considering their rivalry, they could motivate each other to work harder, it works well with any other teammate they receive." Kakashi for once was without his book; he resigned from Anbu a few years ago and now had to take up a Jonin team.

The aged Hokage listened to their argument and admitted that each had positive points and whichever team Naruto was sent to would be beneficial for him and his teammates. Pondering on it for a while, he finally made his decision, clapping his hands to get all the attention of the Jonin present. "Since we have such an issue with young Naruto on which team he is to be assigned, since Naruto is the dead last, the team under Kakashi would consist of Uchiha Sasuke, Haruno Sakura the kunoichi of the year and Naruto Uzumaki. Naruto could be motivated to strive harder, effectively making them a force to be reckoned if they are able to work together. That is my final decision. "Hiruzen says with a sigh as he waited for the incoming spat between the three Jonin.

"Hokage-sama, please reconsider" came the cries of Kurenai and Asuma, while Kakashi could be seen fist pumping the air. "I'm afraid that this is my final decision and that you will have to make do with the team you are currently with." He says much to the disappointment of the two and the happiness of one scarecrow.

 **XxX**

Back at the academy, all the graduates were anxiously waiting for Iruka to announce the teams and sensei's they would be receiving. Naruto was thinking to himself that as long as he was not teammates with Sasuke, Sakura or Ino then he was fine with anybody else. "Ok settle down class, I will now announce the Teams and your assigned teachers. Team 1 will be ….Next team 10 will be, Ino Yamanaka, Choji Akimichi and Shikamaru Nara. Your sensei is Asuma Sarutobi." Ino could be seen screaming about how it was unfair that she couldn't be group with her 'Sasuke-kun', while Choji and Shikamaru were fine with it since the three knew each other from their fathers.

"Next team 8 will be Hinata Hyuga, Kiba Inuzaka and Shino Aburame. Jonin sensei is Kurenai Yuuhi." At this, you could keep a very loud thud coming from the back row; it belonged to one Naruto Uzumaki. Who not only realised that all his friends were already grouped up, but the last three to be assigned a team were him, the emo king and his servant. He was constantly banging his head against the wall till it formed cracks, while his friends tried to calm him down.

Iruka ignored Naruto's actions and continued "Next team 7 will be Naruto Uzumaki, Sasuke Uchiha and Sakura Haruno. Jonin sensei is Kakashi Hatake." the banging stopped as the only good news in Naruto's ears was that he was with his brother, the only thing worth being in the group in his eyes. While a screech that sounded like it could be from a banshee started shouting about 'Ino-pig' and about how love triumphs all came from a certain pink haired servant.

While his friends comforted Naruto about his plight, the Jonin sensei's walked in one by one, surprisingly enough Kakashi was on time. This was due to the pep talk that Naruto gave him one day after seeing him at his usual place and after hearing the story, lectured him that Kakashi's teammates wouldn't want them to see him like this and the past couldn't be changed. To add on Naruto said that if Kakashi was not serious, his genin's under him might suffer the same fate if not watched after properly, thereby creating another 'Kakashi'. Kakashi was so moved by his little brother's speech that he took him on an all-you-can-eat ramen marathon. Naruto immediately scampered up to his big brother, fastened himself onto his leg, crying anime tears and complaining about unfairness and 'emo-kings and servants' earning a sweatdrop from Kakashi. This prompted Asuma and Kurenai to point obviously to Naruto to signify that the Hokage made a wrong decision, while Kakashi tried to calm his brother down.

One by one all the Jonin and their teams left, with Kakashi and his team using the rooftop, he talked a little and asked everybody to introduce themselves, he initiated the task first. "My name is Kakashi Hatake, my likes are my little brother and my…books, my dislikes are too many to discuss, my dream is to star in an Icha Icha movie" while this was confusing to the others about 'Icha Icha', Naruto face-palmed as he had such a pervert as his brother.

"My name is Naruto Uzumaki; my likes are my big brother, my family and my little brother Ko, my dislikes are people who can't understand simple logic and those who are arrogant, my dream is to be protect all the people I cherish and maybe Hokage as well" while Sasuke scoffed at Naruto.

Sakura continued. "My name is Sakura Haruno, my likes are *looks at Sasuke and giggles*, my dislike is Naruto-Baka for not seeing how awesome Sasuke is, my dream is to *looks at Sasuke, blushes and has a nosebleed*." " _What a crazy fangirl_ , _she is too devoted to Sasuke"_ were the thoughts of Naruto and Kakashi.

"My name is Sasuke Uchiha, my likes are none of your concern, my dislikes are too many, my dream no my goal is to kill a certain man and restore honour to my clan." " _So an avenger/emo king/ gay person, dang what more?"_ Naruto thought to himself.

"Alright, guys you're not actually genin yet, out of the 27 graduates that made it, only 9 of will actually be accepted as genin, the other 18 will be weeded out and sent back to the academy. In other words, this is a make it or break it pass fail test and the chance that you will fail is at least 66%." Kakashi said shocking them all, although Naruto and Sasuke kept quiet while Sakura fumbled.

"Alright guys, meet at training ground 7 tomorrow at 7am , also I suggest you don't eat breakfast or else you'll puke, Ja ne" with that Kakashi Shunshin away.

Sighing to himself, Naruto decided to get it over with, "Look guys, you don't like me I don't like you, but now that we are a team, I suggest we put that aside for now and work together as a team okay?" it sounded more akin to plead as opposed to a question.

"Why would I need help, I am an Uchiha and can deal with whatever he tries tomorrow, I don't need your help at all." Sasuke snorted. "Yeah why would Sasuke-kun need your help, he can do it by himself right Sasuke-kun?" Sakura says with glaring eyes, while Sasuke ignored her and walked away with Sakura chasing him.

Naruto put both of his palm into his face and muffled his yell of frustration, "Nii-san I know you're there, I tried ok, you heard what they said, how can I work with them?" Kakashi appeared from underneath the railing and stood up.

"Well from what I heard, you managed to break Shino and Hinata out of their shells, so why can't you do it with these two?" Kakashi states not lifting a single glance from his book.

"Shino and Hinata are different, they were just misjudged and therefore misunderstood, my teammates, one of them is brooding avenger and accomplished gay while the other is screeching banshee who is a servant, both of their behaviours are natural, what shell is there to break?"

Kakashi had no comebacks and just sighed. "I'm sure you can figure out something, c'mon let's go home and eat dinner." With that both of them left the balcony.

 **XxX**

The next morning, Naruto noticed his brother left much earlier than usual, most likely preparing for the test. Now geared up, he wore black shinobi pants and dark blue shirt on top of a mesh shirt with shinobi sandals; all in all he looked like a shinobi. Naruto spend the previous night thinking about the test, his brother always said to look underneath the underneath, so he was sure that there was some clue when he was talking. He remembered the word 'suggested' mentioned about breakfast, "If I don't eat breakfast, how will I have energy to even do the test? 66% chance to fail, meaning that amongst the three of us, only one can pass while the other two fail, the test has got something to do those odds…we'll see later".

Instead of following instructions, he prepared a moderate sized breakfast, enough to fill him for training and not puke. Making his way to the training ground, he noticed that he was the last one there, but his brother was still nowhere in sight.

After another 30 minutes of waiting, Kakashi arrived in a poof of smoke. "You're late!" Sakura screeched, Naruto and Kakashi who had enhanced hearing covered their ears. "Ma ma Sakura, it's only 30 minutes, anyway I'll explain the test now, you have till noon to grab the bells which I've attached to my pouch, the one who doesn't grab one gets tied up and doesn't get lunch, while that person watches the rest eat."

At that statement, stomach growls were heard from Sakura and Sasuke, but Naruto appeared fine.

"Oh Naruto, how come you aren't affected by that?" Kakashi asked questioningly.

"Kakashi-sensei, how would we have energy to do any training if we don't have energy from eating breakfast, yesterday you used the word 'suggested' which indicates that it was an option and not an order. We must always look underneath the underneath." Naruto replied with a shrug.

Kakashi eye smiled, proud that his brother took his advice to heart. "Good thinking Naruto, Sasuke and Sakura learn from Naruto's example that when receiving future orders do not blindly follow and actually look underneath the underneath." This caused Sasuke to glower at Naruto, Sakura blindly following.

After brandishing the two bells attached to his pouch, he started the timer. All three of them jumped back and hid in cover, trying to mask their presence as much as possible. Meanwhile, Naruto was evaluating the test, genin teams were a 4-man cell meaning that three genin's plus one Jonin was one team. 'Nii-san is an elite Jonin, he trashed me every time we spar, there's no way any of us can beat him….THAT'S IT, we aren't meant to individually get the bells, we're meant to work as a team."

Naruto made haste to follow and locate Sasuke's chakra signature. Easily finding him amongst some bushes, taking careful measures not to startle him

"Pst, hey Sasuke, I've figured out the meaning behind the test, we need to work as a team, we can't beat sensei no matter what." Naruto replied as he was scanning the area for Kakashi.

Sasuke's eyes widened at the suggestion. Him working together with Naruto, the dead last? He was an Uchiha, he didn't need help. "I don't need your help; I can do this on my own!"

Naruto's eyed narrowed and glared at Sasuke "Now listen here teme, our Sensei is also my brother who is mind you an A-rank ninja and famous in Konoha for a reason, you think we can take him on, I've seen other Jonin's trashed by him before!"

Sasuke scoffed, but understood what Naruto meant, _if our sensei is so strong then how do we beat him?_ He shook his head and cleared his mind, he was an Uchiha and he could get the bells on his own if he wanted to. With that he left the area looking for his sensei, leaving Naruto furiously scratching his head.

"Stupid, I'm so stupid to think that the teme could actually want to work together, nii-san you can dispel your Kage Bunshin now, he really doesn't want to work together, hopefully we can have a good spar later." A poof could be heard in the branches above Naruto.

In another clearing, "Sigh, I guess Naruto realised the meaning behind the test, but Sasuke doesn't want to work together, I'll have to fix that." Kakashi said while observing Sakura, who was staring at his Kage Bunshin.

"Pst pst, hey Sakura" Kakashi says while sneaking behind Sakura. As Sakura turns around, her world turns black as Kakashi places her in a genjutsu world where Sasuke is impaled and on the verge of death. Upon seeing her crush in that state, her eyes widened and did the only thing she could think of "KYAAAAAA" and black out.

"KYAAAA" was heard in the distance. Sasuke's head turned in the direction of the voice, _that must be Sakura_. _She got caught already, what a worthless person, nothing but a fan girl._ Landing in a clearing, he was not surprised to find Kakashi leaning against a tree, reading his favourite book.

"I'm surprised that she got caught so easily, the records in the academy stated that she was the best of her year, the standards these days are really horrible if she is the best they can produce." Kakashi said with a sigh as his shoulders slumped.

Sasuke snorted. "I'm better than the others."

Kakashi eye smiled. "Prove it to me once you get a bell"

Sasuke launched an array of kunai's at Kakashi, which he lazily dodged to the left. Sasuke paused and waited for his trap to activate, he frowned when he realised nothing was happening.

"I'm not sure if it was meant as a trap or not, make it less visible next time, the wire gave off the reflection and allowed me to see your trap." Overall, the trap was not too badly set up, but his little brother could set up even better ones, some that even go three steps after the first just to capture the target. _Maybe I should bring him out hunting one day, he could use the experience and maybe I can teach him more about survival._ Kakashi thought asSasuke started rushing him and engage in a taijutsu battle.

Sasuke's attack proved to be ineffective as Kakashi deflected all his strikes and grabbed his wrists, tossing him to a tree. Managing to twirl around the tree, he began shifting through hand signs and inhaling. Upon recognising the hand signs, Kakashi frowned as he didn't realise that Sasuke had enough Chakra to do it. Naruto was a special case, as his innate large reserves were further boosted by the demon's fox chakra constantly siphoned into him.

 **Katon: Gokakyuu no jutsu** (Fire release: Great fireball technique) Sasuke created a huge fireball upon exhaling, sending it flying towards Kakashi. When Sasuke looked around, he scowled seeing that his sensei was nowhere in sight, only the charred remain of a log courtesy of a substitution. _Where is he? Left? No. Right? No. Above? No. That just leaves…._ Sasuke started looking down when two pair of hairs grabbed his ankles and pulled him under till only his head was visible.

Kakashi crouched down and look Sasuke in the eye, "I'll admit you are good and the minor tweaks in your abilities will make you better, but my little brother is better than you are. Kakashi left as Sasuke seethed in anger, _there's no way that the dobe is better than me, I am an Uchiha, I am better than he is and I will prove it, but I need to get out of this first._ Sasuke thought as he grimaced at his current predicament.

While all this was going on, Naruto used the opportunity presented to find Sakura and dispel the genjutsu placed on her. After he released it, without warning Sakura immediately shot up and banged Naruto in the chin with her forehead whilst crying out Sasuke's name. _Damn, her forehead is like a brick wall, big and sturdy, no wonder people made fun of it in the first place._ Naruto thought as he rubbed his sore chin.

"Sakura, Sakura calm down, you were in a genjutsu, now I want you to listen to me and I've figured out that the test is about teamwork. Sasuke refused to work with me and got himself detained by Sensei, so would you please work with me so that we can at least pass?" Naruto asked pleadingly, hoping that she has some sense at least to cooperate.

Far from what he hoped for, "If Sasuke-kun cannot defeat Sensei, then what makes you think you can Baka, I'm going to go rescue Sasuke-kun now and get his help unlike you." she says glaring at Naruto and ran off looking for Sasuke. The only sound that could be heard was the sound of metal against bark as Naruto was bashing his forehead protector against the tree, occasionally mumbling about stupid emo's and banshees.

Feeling that he might as well give it a shot, he concentrated and looked for his brother. After finding him at the start point of the test reading his trademark book, he walked up to him. "I tried, they didn't listen and this test is really not helping our teamwork. Servant did nothing and doesn't pay attention to anything other than the emo-king, whom did something at least but doesn't accept help. Can we just have a spar to pass the time till it reaches noon, since I already figured it out, you can tell them yourself about the test since they obviously won't listen to me?" Naruto asks with a tired sigh, today's activities weren't taxing physically but it affected him mentally, it really tested his patience not to straight up beat them to get his point across.

Snapping his book shut, "We might as well; I could also test your skills and see if you can get a bell. Let's test Ninjutsu first." Within a blink, Kakashi went through several hand seals with speed exclusive to those of Jonin and higher, **Katon: Gokakyuu no Jutsu.** A fireball burst to life and headed straight to Naruto, who created Kage Bunshin without seals and ordered them to spread out. Naruto quickly replaced himself with one of his clones, only to find an incoming **Suidan no jutsu** (Water bullet technique) aiming for him. Forming a half-ram seal, **Fuuton: Daitoppa** was used to counter it, using the opportunity Naruto threw several shuriken and kunai's which were sped up by the wind expelled.

" **Doton: Doryuuheki** (Earth release: Earth style wall)" a large slab of earth rose up from the ground to block the incoming projectiles.

" **Raiton: Jibashi** " two of Naruto's clones cried out with one current destroying the wall, while the other headed for Kakashi.

Kakashi jumped up into the air, only to find more projectiles coming at him with high speeds, courtesy of more clones using the wind technique coupled with the increased amount of projectiles. Quickly throwing his own set of shuriken, he flashed through hand signs, " **Shuriken Kage Bunshin no jutsu** (Shuriken shadow clone technique)" the shurikens multiplied and retaliated and overwhelmed the projectiles in one path. However he didn't anticipate that Naruto would transform a few of his clones into shuriken and was forced to deflect and destroy the clones, allowing Naruto to dodge his multiplied shuriken.

"Nii-san, that technique seems really effective; can you teach it to me, Kage Bunshin is my specialty after all?" Naruto replied nonchalantly as he dodged the remaining shurikens.

"Sure some other time perhaps" Kakashi said as he landed and flashed through more hand signs, " **Doton: Tsuchi Nami no jutsu** (Earth release: Earth wave technique)" the earth started changing and forming randomly while heading towards Naruto. Naruto's clone soon dispelled as the wave hit them, seeing as that had no more chakra to balance themselves.

Focusing on balancing himself, Naruto realised that he lost sight of his brother; using his sensing abilities located him directly below him. Leaping away as a pair of hands comes up, **Raiton: Jibashi** was cast again, this time with extra power that managed to tear up the earth and leave a crater where it struck.

Going through hand signs till it stopped at Dog, he gathered multiple bullet size of air chakra and compressed them even further, _time to test out the new jutsu Asuma sensei gave me._ Taking a deep breath, **Fuuton: Shinkuugyoku (** Wind release: Vacuum Bullets), he began firing the compressed chakra in a spitting motion towards the area where he could sense his brother would pop up at. All the bullets managed to hit and penetrate Kakashi, until he disappeared and a log appeared where he stood. A kunai soon appeared near his neck, Kakashi standing there with a lazy look in his eyes.

"Asuma gave you a new jutsu? Those air bullets could seriously hurt someone, use them with restriction if friendlies are nearby, overall your usage and arsenal is still good, since you have higher amounts of chakra, the Kage Bunshin can be in your terms used moderately now, use it more often." Kakashi lectured Naruto while removing the Kunai.

Remembering his advice, Naruto distanced himself away. "Now genjutsu" Kakashi whipped through several hand signs, " **Magen: Narakumi no jutsu** (Demonic Illusion: Hell viewing technique)". Naruto quickly accumulated his chakra with speed honed from his chakra control exercises and released the genjutsu which displayed all his family and loved ones being killed with a " **Kai** ", only to quickly side step a fist coming his way. They quickly began engaging each other with Taijutsu, Naruto being on the offensive with **Goken.**

"You know you are really terrible, showing me a nightmare of Ichiraku Ramen going out of business and me not having any cash" Naruto lied in order to find an opening, Kakashi fumbled a little and Naruto used this opportunity. With a trick Gai taught him, he channelled chakra to his legs for the extra burst of speed and appeared right next to Kakashi. " **Konoha Senpuu** " Naruto angled his whirlwind kick to kick Kakashi's last second block so that his arms will be flung upwards. Using this opportunity, Naruto twisted his body and grabbed the bells fast enough after deflecting Kakashi's knee with his elbow before Kakashi could leap back. Rolling away, he grinned widely when he showed Kakashi the bells in his hand. "I was thinking of integrating the replacement technique into my fighting style, but the timing and speed required to perform it needs to be improved, perhaps something like rocks which can be used as distractions."

Sighing to himself, Kakashi gave Naruto an eye smile and ruffled his eye, which Naruto responded with a pout. "Looks like you got faster, I think it's time for you to use weights on your body, the idea is good and creative, keep at it, we'll get you some of the weights soon" with that a grinning Naruto and a lazy Kakashi set out to find Sasuke and Sakura.

They eventually found Sasuke and Sakura in the same area where Sasuke was dragged into the earth. Sasuke was grumbling about how long it took to get out, as Sakura was apologizing about not being quick enough. The timer set at noon rung indicating that it was now noon and that the conducted test was now over.

"Well the test is now over and you two didn't get any bells, while Naruto here got both bells after engaging me in combat" Naruto remained quiet, he was brought up to be a humble person and never liked to brag but was adamant on learning new things. Meanwhile Sasuke was roaring inside when he lost to Naruto, Sakura on the other hand was screaming about unfair sibling advantages and how Sasuke should have gotten the bells. Kakashi was quick to scold her, saying that although Naruto was his little brother, he would not give any advantages over others as he wants Naruto to be a 'proper' shinobi. He emphasised on the word 'proper' as he talked to Sakura, hoping she would take the hint.

Sasuke and Sakura do not believe Kakashi's words and continue to hassle Kakashi about it, causing a tick mark that was increasing in size to appear on Naruto's forehead. Finally deciding to take matters into his own hands, Naruto requested a duel with them in order to prove his skills. Sasuke was happy that he could prove his superiority again while Sakura was hoping to impress Sasuke.

Sakura went up first, both got into their stances with Kakashi being the referee. "Hajime" was heard, Sakura prepared to dash towards Naruto only to see the top half of his leg heading straight for her face. She was too slow to react and got kicked hard in the chin, effectively knocking her out easily.

Sasuke came up next; he was smirking at finally proving that Naruto was inferior to the Uchiha's. "Hajime" was heard again, as Sasuke's Interceptor Style fought against Naruto's Goken, Sasuke's was pushed to the defensive immediately and even his defensive manoeuvres were overwhelmed by Naruto's fierce offense. Sasuke was forced to leap back to dodge Naruto's kick, he began flicked numerous Shurikens and Kunai's at Naruto, who countered them all with his own and some of the Kunai's even got through to Sasuke who was forced to deflect them.

Sasuke went through hand signs and with a large breath came out a large fireball that headed straight for Naruto. Naruto created shadow clones and replaced with one of them, he then took out his own Kunai and stuck it to the ground confusing Sasuke. "You know Sasuke we as ninja have to look underneath the underneath, something which you lack right now." Naruto says as he formed a half Ram sign. Electricity circulated through the Kunai and the current was amplified from the Kunai and headed straight to Sasuke, Sasuke jumped back to avoid it before noticing it split of into two branches.

Following the path, Sasuke grimly realised that he was surrounded by the Kunai's he had previously deflected. The electricity connected to the two Kunai's in the front, it soon spread out and connected with the rest, essentially locking Sasuke down in a field of electricity. "Forfeit, I can control the electricity and cause it to damage you, but I don't want that, so believe that I won against Nii-san yet?" Naruto asks mockingly with a smirk, causing Sasuke to seethe in anger at him but had no choice but to forfeit.

The electrical field dissipated and Naruto took back all his gear, at this point Sakura was already awake and bore witness to her crush losing to the supposed dead last in an official duel. She had her mouth agape and Naruto walked past her, "If I ever hear you say that my brother pities me again, I won't forgive you."

"So Naruto, what are you going to do about those bells, give one to either of them and take one for yourself or make neither of them pass?" Kakashi asked.

Naruto smiles and throws his teammates the two bells, "This test is about teamwork, a person's individual skill is important but a mission is conducted in squads and teamwork is essential. If a person decides to solo, it could jeopardize the whole mission." Naruto replies proudly.

"Very good Naruto, now I want all of you to look at the memorial stone there, the names engraved there are heroes of the village, many who gave their lives for the village. There's a saying that I live by 'Those who disobey the rules are trash, but those who abandon their comrades are worse than trash.' that is something I experienced first-hand. "Kakashi states in a cold tone.

Naruto was well-aware of the incident and chose not to speak any further. "Alright, since all of you pass, we are officially known as Team 7 and I will see you all tomorrow here at 9 am. Ja ne" Naruto departs first as he has nothing to say to the group. Sasuke leaves after while he was internally seething, Sakura continues to pester Sasuke out for dates, but was shocked that 'her' Sasuke-kun lost.

At the Jonin meeting room, "Team 10 passes; they have the Ino-shika-cho combination and work well together similarly to their fathers. Although Ino is still in her fan girl faze and Shikamaru is smart but lazy and Choji is too kind-hearted" Asuma gives his report.

"Team 8 passes, all the requirements of a tracking team are required, Shino is the strategist and uses his bugs to sap his enemies chakra undetected, Hinata weakens the enemy and disables the enemy by using her clan's Jyuken and Kiba destroys the enemy using his clan's unique tracking system and offensive attacks." Kurenai gives her report.

"Team 7 passes, although I'm proud and saddened that my little brother was the one who won the bell test and gave it to his teammates, since neither of his teammates are willing to work with him. Starting with Sakura, she is in blunt terms and according to my little brother's words, a fan girl and a servant, she refuses to work with Naruto and only acts when it involves Sasuke. Now Sasuke is indeed talented, but he is a soloist and often refers to his teammates as below him, thereby lowering the team's efficiency. Naruto however has shown understanding of the tests and was the one to initiate the plan for the team to work together and he has also shown efficient usage of even the basic academy level jutsu, using them to allow counter-measures in a split second. He has a good understanding of the elements and his usage is creative. Using his wind element to speed up and increase the power of projectiles, he has also use the transformation technique on his clones to surprise me by turning into his shurikens thrown. Also Gai, good job on teaching him Taijutsu, he says that the speed utilised allows him to integrate a new way to allow distractions like stones to be thrown and distract the enemy while simultaneously using the speed gained to replace himself with the stones and strike at blind spots." Kakashi gives his report with his usual eye smile.

Many Jonin in the room were impressed that a genin could take the basic academy jutsu's that most people would use sparingly to another level where the tactics could be seen as effective and efficient on the field, and this was the so called dead last, what was going on? Asuma and Kurenai were jealous that they missed out on the chance to get such a good student, while at the same time impressed by him. Gai was especially happy that his youthful student has improved his taijutsu; this caused him to give his nice guy pose and to rant about 'Naruto' and 'fans of youth'. Hiruzen was impressed by his surrogate grandson, for his creativity and his insight. After dismissing the room, he was pondering on what the future might hold for the young Uzumaki.


	3. Chapter 3

**Hello, all again, this is the third chapter, i also don't see the need for a title chapter, it makes things predictable if the title says it all, so i'm just gonna leave it at that, i've been meaning to work on a new fanfic since i got another idea about naruto in Kumo, yeah that sound's good, Kumo doesn't get the love it deserves and Konoha is like the main central village where all the cool stuff happens.**

 **As for this chapter, you might find it similar to canon and i needed a foundation to backup certain parts that i've got in the future, so bear with it, this story is here for reasons and the reason that i made Naruto wear weights and not sasuke is that if Sasuke can already see Kyuubi naruto moving at the speed, losing a bit of weights won't change anything, besides Sasuke is already fast enough as it is.**

 **Overall if i think that an Omake is good for the chapter, i will include it, but if there isn't a good part to it, then too bad, just enjoy the story.**

 **Disclaimer: Naruto not owned by me, for shame, for shame for everybody else in the world who was disappointed at the ending of Naruto.**

* * *

The day after the test, Team 7 were excited about the prospect of finally going out on missions. Sad to say they were disappointed when they were introduced to what kind of 'awesome' missions they were given to do. This was the bane of every genin's existence; it affected them physically and mentally, causing untold amounts of frustration and agony. It was a refreshing moment for the Jonin's to see their genin's suffer the same fate as they once did, something they were sure to laugh and share about in the Jonin lounge. These were the legendary D-rank missions, ranging from painting to catching cats, the idea of it sounded so 'awesome' in the eyes of the genin's.

After a couple of weeks of epic missions, from babysitting to pulling out weeds, the genin's patience grew thin. Even Naruto who understood that D-ranks were rudimentary and had appropriate control of his emotions was starting to grow impatient, easily identifiable by the constant twitches when given a new D-rank mission. On the plus side, this term was being used loosely; teamwork exercises were executed during common training for Team 7.

It wasn't as successful as Kakashi hoped; Naruto had already given up trying to suck up his pride and beg them to work together. Naruto was given a new jutsu that he was gleeful about, the **Shuriken Kage Bunshin no jutsu** was extremely useful for crowd control and with Naruto's reserves and it could be used effectively. He was also given resistance seals that in total currently amounted to 50 kg, as his muscles healed at a faster rate thanks to his tenant and allowed him to put on weights. Sasuke and Sakura were not given any, since Sasuke was being stubborn and arrogant which prompt Kakashi chose not to, while Sakura was physically lacking and would get crushed under the excess force.

 **XxX**

Naruto was going to training ground 10 one day after a successful D-rank mission, he was told that Gai was given his own Genin team as well called Team Gai or team 10. Naruto entered the field only to hear grunting noises and shouts of youth, something easily identifiable. He stumbled upon a young boy about his age doing push up's with one hand, while his teammates were sparring. The iconic thing about the boy was that he had the same exact dress sense, bowel cut and the eyebrows that seemed sentient every time his face moved.

 _Dear god, did Gai revert back to his teenager days? No…the eyes are different, that means…this is a mini clone of Gai?!_ Naruto thought to himself as he walked towards the Team. Team 10 took notice of Naruto and stopped their activities with Gai appearing out from the trees.

"Ah Naruto, have you come for your usual youthful training?" Gai questioned which Naruto nods in response. "Allow me to introduce to you my youthful team, this is Neji, Tenten and the boy with the fierce fire of youth is Lee!" Gai says out, though it was his normal tone, it was still considered shouting. Naruto gave a respectful bow to all of them seeing as they were his seniors and he didn't want to give a bad impression.

The boy named Lee then came up to Naruto then turned his head to Gai, "Gai-sensei, who is this youthful person?"

"This young boy is Naruto, the little brother of my eternal rival; he has been training with me since he was 5 as I found his flames of youthful to be burning brightly." Gai responds with fire burning in his eyes.

"Nice to meet you Naruto-san, since you have trained under Gai-sensei as well, I would like to request a spar in order to measure the power of my youth." Lee responded in such a manner that it almost seemed natural to include the word youth in his sentences. _The process has started already, a new clone is being moulded, Konoha only needs one of them and two is just calling for a disaster to strike._ Naruto thought as he agreed to the spar, he wanted to measure his skill level as well.

"Will this be a spar of individual fields or multiple?" Naruto questioned as it was common courtesy to ask when having a spar.

Lee's face darkened a little before his eyes shone with fire again, "This will only be a spar of pure Taijutsu, as I cannot perform any other Ninja arts from a condition of mine." Lee says with his head held high. Naruto was greatly surprised by this, although he was curious as to how he became a ninja without the other arts.

As they got into their positions, Naruto turned to Gai and asked, "Gai-sensei, have you given Lee weights? I have resistance seals on too, so I would like if both of us could take them off in order to go all out." Naruto said as he rolled up his sleeves and ankles to reveal seals on them.

Gai gave Lee a thumb up which prompted Lee to remove the orange leg warmers and showcase his weights which had the word 'Guts' on it, a rather old fashioned method but it still does the job. Naruto released his with a ' **Kai** ' while Lee took his off and threw it to the side, it kicked up dust which gave Naruto the idea that it was around the same weight as his seals.

"This will be a spar between Lee and Naruto, Hajime!" Gai said as both of them sped towards each other with their newfound speed. Punch after punch, kick after kick, counter after counter, they were both evenly matched and neither side seemed to be letting up. Both were bruised all over and their breathing haggard, but their eyes still shone with fire in them and both continued the fight. After 10 minutes of continuous fighting, Lee finally caved in and fell to the ground exhausted, Naruto's innate stamina combined with the Biju allowed Naruto to fight longer and sustain more hits than the usual Ninja.

Naruto was panting heavily while grasping his knees, "How long has he been training under you Gai-sensei?" Naruto says in between breaths.

"Exactly one year" Gai says to the surprise of Naruto. To get to Naruto's level within a year was amazing, this made Naruto understand that either Lee was a prodigy in Taijutsu or he was hardworking, most likely the latter considering his sensei. This caused Naruto to view Lee in a new light, greatly respecting his efforts despite his disabilities.

Walking up to Lee, he held out his hand while saying "You are an amazing person, to catch up to me in one year is nothing short of a miracle, this really shows your effort, I greatly respect that effort of yours, you are most youthful." Naruto says much to his distaste, but when you encounter someone like Lee, you can't help but mention the word youth.

Lee grasped onto Naruto's hands while crying anime tears, "Naruto-san, thank you for your kind words, you are most youthful as well, I have decided that from now on you are my Eternal Rival."

Somewhere on some random mission, Kakashi sneezed rather loudly and felt a tingle in his spine, 'Something's not right, someone I know has come across something terrible only I have experienced, a disturbance in the balance of Konoha. Another Eternal Rival challenger has popped up, gods bless that person and he/she needs it.

Naruto was quick to let go of Lee, he heard about the Eternal rival thing from his brother, but wasn't too well informed on it. Gai suddenly appear behind Lee, giving him a thumb's up with gleaming teeth.

"ATTABOY LEE, YOUR FLAMES OF YOUTH IS GOING STRONGER, YOUR ETERNAL RIVAL IS ONE WHO WOULD FAN YOUR FLAMES AND SHOW YOUR POWER OF YOUTH." Gai says yelling out with fire in his background.

"YES GAI-SENSEI, I WILL FAN THE FLAMES OF MY YOUTH THROUGH THE ETERNAL RIVAL CHALLENGE AND DISPLAY MY YOUTHFUL POWERS FOR THE VILLAGE TO SEE." Lee says with the same flaming background.

"LEE"

"GAI-SENSEI"

"LEE"

"GAI-SENSEI"

The two of them proceeded to hug each other, forming something that would make even the likes of Itachi cringe. A sunset genjutsu with crashing waves on the beach appeared behind the two hugging spandex users, causing Naruto's eyes to burn. "Argh, what the hell is that, is that a genjutsu?" Naruto says quickly try to break out of it to no avail.

"Just leave them be, they will get over it eventually, Neji, is it good or bad that we are not affected by this anymore?" Tenten, a girl dressed in a Chinese outfit and ball shaped lumps of hair on her head.

"I'm unsure whether it is good or bad, both sound logical." Neji a boy with pale eyes of the Hyuga, clad in the Hyuga attire and the silkiest hair that would put most hair products to shame.

"Nice to meet you both, I'm Naruto." Naruto says greeting them.

"Hello, my name is Tenten and this is Neji." Tenten says as she gestured to Neji.

"How are you two able to cope with being on this team, one of Gai in Konoha is bad enough, add a mini clone into the mix and you'll get a recipe for disaster." Naruto says waving his arms.

"Real funny kid, we got used to it eventually, say you need weapons?" Tenten asks out of the blue.

"As a matter of fact, my supply of Kunai's are getting rather blunt and rusty, I might need new ones, why?" Naruto questioned.

"My family owns a store which sells weapons and ninja merchandise, after the training I'll bring you there; I might even give you a discount." Tenten says happily as she just got herself a new customer.

Naruto and Tenten arrived at the Higurashi weapon's store, Naruto was informed that Tenten usually ran the place while her father was smithing in the forge. Naruto toured the place and the goods were all in good quality, after getting all the required merchandise, the total amounted to 4,000 ryo, a massive decrease in the usual amount he had to pay at other stores.

This made Naruto realise that he was scammed of most of his goods, making him furious. He then decided to frequent Tenten's shop more, getting his goods at an affordable price was better.

 **XxX**

Today we find the genin's of team 7 trying to accomplish a tradition that has been passed down from generation to generation, catching the Daimyo wife's cat, the demonic cat Tora. There were many rumours and speculations that the cat was actually the Nine-tailed fox and that it attacked the village when someone tried to cut its tail, unknown to them a certain a furry being in a cage took offense that a meagre cat was using its title.

"This is blondie, target is in sight." A voice could be heard in the headpiece.

"This is blossom, target is heading towards current location" another voice was heard.

"This is Hawk, I'm in positon"

"This is scarecrow, move in and detain target."

At once, all three left their hiding places and cornered the demon; Sasuke used Ninja wire and trapped it. Naruto picked up the struggling cat only to realise that the cat was now snuggling against him, something which surprised Naruto. " _I have a demon sealed within me, if this cat which is usually violent is snuggling against me, could it be related to the fox?"_ Naruto thought to himself as he could have sworn he heard a snort at the back of his head.

"Looks like Tora likes you Naruto, that's a first, I've never seen the cat like a person before." Kakashi questioned as the team headed back to the Hokage tower to report their success. Sasuke was walking with his usual brooding face as he was upset that he only got to catch a cat as a mission, while Sakura was trailing behind in her usual manner.

 **XxX**

Entering the Hokage's office, we find Hiruzen working on his desk with an absurd amount of paperwork on his desk. Groaning to himself as one of his teams caused trouble on one of the missions in a small village and Konoha had to pay for the damages, he had receive even more paperwork.

"Mission to capture Tora complete, Hokage-sama" Kakashi says as Naruto removes Tora and hands the now slumbering cat into the arms of one Madam Shijimi. She was a rather large and short women garbed in expensive clothing and accessories that immediately grabbed her cat and hugged it tightly. The cat gave a yelp and tried to escape the clutches of its owner as it was being hugged to death. It even tried to reach out for Naruto which was amusing to watch for the occupants in the room.

" _Wow, if the owner treats it like that, no wonder it runs away, I pity the poor thing."_ Naruto thought with a sweatdrop as he notices the cat's situation.

"Ah team 7, a job well-done I see" Hiruzen replies with a tired sigh. The bane of all kage's was on his table, it was undefeatable, it was always increasing and never faltered at any moment, it was truly an opponent worthy of combating the kage's, it was paperwork. It has taken another victim in the form of the Third Hokage, even being known as 'The professor' didn't help him solve the problem. "Now for another mission, we have painting the walls of the orphanage? Or how about helping the farmer's pull out weeds or…."

"NO!" Sasuke interrupted rather forcefully. "I'm sick of these useless missions, I'm an Uchiha and I deserve better missions, I need to become stronger not by doing useless chores."

"That's right; Sasuke-kun deserves better missions for an Uchiha." Sakura says aiding her crush.

" _I suspected this would happen, *sigh* this won't end well, we'll see how this plays out with Hokage-sama" Kakashi thought as he stands in the back with his shoulders slumped._

Naruto narrowed his eyes at his two teammates and thought; _they have the gall to yell at the Hokage and the most powerful man in the village just because of his name, I'm really starting to get irritated. Although I will admit that we deserve at least a higher-ranked mission, since we completed the customary quota of 10 D-rank missions._ Looking at the Hokage's desk, Naruto couldn't help but notice his plight and thought of a backup plan to get what he wanted, ' _hehe I can't believe he has never thought of using that method before.'_

"Although I'm not one for yelling at the Hokage, I believe that we deserve a better mission as we have done our quota of 10 D-rank missions and that Team 7 is skilled enough for a C-rank mission. Although if you are not convinced, I can't help but notice your issue on your desk there and I believe I have a way to solve it." Naruto said adding his two cents into the conversation, Hiruzen who upon hearing Naruto's words appeared in front of Naruto on his knees whilst grabbing his shoulders and asking for the 'cure'.

 _Is this really the Hokage of the village?_ Naruto thought with a sweatdrop as he leaned in to Hiruzen's ear and whispered two words. Hiruzen became rigged and shot up instantly, went to the wall with the portraits of the Hokage's hanging and started bashing his head against the wall. All the occupants stared in disbelief, as the old man kept muttering out the word 'stupid'. He pointed accusingly at the portrait of the Yondaime, "This was always how you got things done so fast, wasn't it? Damn you, Minato, you had to make an own man suffer even more." He rants out again when he mistook the picture to be smirking at him, ' _I've finally got the cure and your son helped me find it, Hahaha.'_

"Naruto, my boy, you're a genius, I believe you all are already ready for C-rank missions." Hiruzen exclaims looking like he had won the lottery. Reaching into the drawer, he pulls out a file and hands it over to Kakashi. "Your mission is an escort and protection standard protocol and is assigned to protect the client while heading to Nami no Kuni (Land of Waves).

"Send in in the client" in came a man who had the stench of alcohol all over his body that it was overbearing for Naruto and Kakashi with their enhanced smell. He appeared to be in his late fifties with greying hair and wrinkled facial features, coupled with spectacles and a straw hat. He had a pot belly with a stained white shirt over it and beige shorts with wood sandals.

"This is all the protection I get? A masked duo, a brooding boy with a duckbutt of a hair and his little pink servant? You expect me to believe that this group are capable ninja's, they look relatively worthless." The client known as Tazuna took a sip of his alcohol in his hands as he rants out. Meanwhile, Naruto was rolling on the floor laughing and spluttering out 'duck butt hair' while pointing at Sasuke.

Growling at being called worthless and the comment about his hair, Sasuke went for a sweeping kick and brought Tazuna to his knees. Grabbing him by the scuff of his shirt, "Listen here you old drunkard, I am an Uchiha and you should be glad that you hired me as protection, I am not worthless unlike my teammates." Letting go of his shirt, Sasuke went to lean on the wall.

"Sasuke, you are not supposed to attack our client" Kakashi lectured in a lazy tone. Though inwardly he was calculating the odds of how effective Sasuke would perform in this mission if he were to carry on like this. _If his attitude keeps up like that, he would jeopardize the whole mission if worst come to worst, I wonder how I should change that._

Hiruzen sighed to himself; _it seems that the councils so called efforts in putting a hold on Sasuke's loyalty resulted in a pampered boy with an attitude problem. If this keeps up, his teammates and any other future missions could be affected by this, it seems we have to correct it soon._

"Tazuna-san, I assure you that this team is capable enough for this mission." Hiruzen assures Tazuna as he picks himself up. "Yeah yeah, anyway give me an hour or two and meet me at the main gate, I've got things to do" Tazuna says as he exits the room.

When Team 7 was leaving the room, everybody could have sworn they heard the words, 'evil' and 'paperwork' in one sentence, followed by 'Icha icha time'.

 **XxX**

Naruto while packing at home noticed that although he might be paranoid about bringing so much equipment, but it never hurt to be cautious. Another thing he noticed was that his brother used storage scrolls for bigger items. ' _Fuinjutsu, it could prove useful in the future, maybe I can try learning it after this mission; brother said that he was adept at seals so he could help me with it.'_

At the main gate, all of team 7 were waiting for Tazuna to arrive. After half an hour, Naruto got frustrated and created shadow clones to go and search for him. Eventually finding him drunk off his ass in a bar, Naruto dragged him back to the gate where he sobered up enough for the journey.

"You're late!" Sakura screeched, causing all the males to wince at the sound.

"Damn it girl, quiet down, I just sobered up and your voice is causing me headaches. I needed a drink or two and got drunk, not big of a deal." Tazuna says nonchalantly as he walked with the group.

This was Naruto's first time on a mission outside the village and was excited at the prospect of encountering bandits or sorts. "Now team, I know this is your first mission outside the village and the probability of encountering bandits is high, therefore I'm warning you that during that moment you might have to kill." Kakashi lectured his students.

"K-k-Kill?" Sakura asks paling a little; she was from a civilian family and was not told about the risk of being a ninja.

Naruto was told about this before and mentally prepared himself, whereas Sasuke was used to killing ever since the massacre, heck his life goal was about killing. As the team continued walking, Naruto sensed something from behind him and up in the trees.

"Sensei, team, contact behind in the trees approximately 20 metres, two chakra signatures, signs indicate Chunin level" Naruto warned his team quietly, his team was aware of his sensor ability after they each showcased their abilities in one of the team exercises. "Affirmative" was said in the group as they prepared themselves for combat.

Suddenly two chains littered with spikes rushed out of the trees and wrapped themselves around Kakashi, two cloaked bodies appeared and tugged on the chains causing it to slice in to Kakashi and get torn to shreds. The result was a scattered number of what appeared to be limbs, which fell to the ground. Naruto and Sasuke dashed after their respective enemies as Sakura stayed back and guarded Tazuna with a kunai in hand; Naruto attacked with a series of kicks and scored a hard hit in the solar plexus, effectively knocking the enemy out. While Sasuke locked his enemy's chain to a tree with a kunai and shuriken, kicking him in the temple, knocking him out as well.

Kakashi appeared relatively unharmed and the 'limbs' on the floor were revealed to be several logs, done by using the replacement technique. "Good job team, all of you were smooth and understood their roles" Kakashi praised.

"By the Tazuna-san, we need to talk" Kakashi says as he grabs the two Chunin and tied them up into a tree.

"How did you know of our ambush?" one the Chunin asked.

Sticking a thumb to his little brother, "that guy right there, he is a sensor and was able to warn us beforehand about your ambush, it seems you lucked out." Kakashi then revert his attention back to Tazuna.

"Now can you tell us why there are ninja after you when you made a request asking for standard protection, meaning it was categorised to either bandits or highway men. If you mentioned there were ninja after you, it would class as a B-rank instead or higher. Even if you have reasons to do so, lying about the mission restrictions is unacceptable. The task right now no longer applies for the boundaries that we have for the mission we were given.

"I suggest we go back, we're not ready for missions like this. Sasuke-kun, what do you think?" Sakura said as the thought of fighting other skilled ninja's frightened her and if Sasuke wasn't able to handle them, how could she?

"We're continuing the mission; we should be able to handle whatever comes after us in this mission evident from the previous attack." Sasuke snorted.

"I believe we are capable enough as well, but I'm skeptical of the chance that we might encounter someone ranked higher in this mission." Naruto said in deep thought.

Kakashi looked at the two and decided to carry on the mission, on the offer that the team is paid for whatever rank this mission will be. _If these two were Chunin, there's a chance that the next enemy we run into will be a Jonin, better not let my guard down._

 **XxX**

In an isolated area in the forest stood a large structure being supported by two trees contained two individuals who appeared to be having an important conversation.

In a room stood a short man with gray frizzled hair and sunglasses dressed in a business suit, while the other was a tall man with bandages wrapped around his lower face lounging on a chair.

"You're telling me you failed!? I paid a lot of money to hire you people, I thought you were some famous group of ninja assassins and if that is the best you can-"The short man's rant was cut short by a large butcher knife being pointed at him.

"Quit yelling, I'll be going after them to finish them myself, this sword here will be last thing they will see. The tall man says effortlessly as he holds the blade with one hand over the nervous business man.

"Are you sure you can handle them, the target appears to have a high level ninja guarding him and since the Demon brothers have failed, they will be on guard for another attack and only someone with good skills can…"

"Don't you know who you are dealing with; I am Zabuza Momochi, the demon of the hidden mist" says as he glares at the man.

 **XxX**

When Team 7 arrived at the coast, Tazuna led them to a man who was willing to offer them a ride across. The group sat it a motorboat but it was turned off and manually rowed in order to avoid attracting attention to them.

"This fog is pretty thick, you can only see the water up ahead" Naruto says as he observes the surroundings.

"The bridge will be visible soon, as soon we arrive at the shore and you'll be in Nami No Kuni." the boatman says in a soft tone.

The minute his sentence ended, the fog cleared away to reveal the bridge, Naruto had to whistle at the impressive size and scale of it even thought it was still incomplete.

"Well I'll be damn, colour me surprised that a drunkard like you could built this" Naruto says as he gazes upon the structure.

"Hmph, you'll be surprised about how deceiving my looks are, I'll have you know that I'm a master bridge builder." Tazuna replies with a snort.

"I believe it's time to tell us who are coming after you and who we're dealing with" Kakashi narrows his eyes, causing Tazuna to stiffen up.

Sighing to himself, "The man after my life is a very short man and casts a dangerous shadow on us all." Tazuna replies with a shiver.

"A short man with a dangerous shadow, is he a Nara by any chance?" Naruto asks curiously, since only the Nara clan were able to manipulate shadows and could damn well be dangerous with it.

"No, you know of him or at least you've heard of him before, his name is Gato." Tazuna sighs and brought his head down.

"Gato, of Gato Transport and Shipping? He's one the richest man in the world, but why would he be after your life?" Kakashi asks with slightly widened eyes.

"He is one of the rulers of the underworld with a façade of a legitimate business man on the surface, he came to Nami no Kuni a year ago wanting to exploit the geographical location. He used his wealth and influence to take control of the country and has managed to seize control of shipping and transports, our primary source of income and enslave our people." Tazuna gave the information with a downtrodden look.

"So it would make sense why he is after your life, if you managed to finish building the bridge, your country would be connected to the land of fire and provide another form of income, thereby removing Gato's control over the country, am I right?" Naruto questioned.

Tazuna was left a little wide eyed that Naruto was able to figure it out, while Kakashi smiled and was glad that all those extra lessons on geography paid off. _He sure has come a long way neh Minato-sensei, I'm sure you and Kushina-san would be proud of him if you were here._

 _Look at the idiot trying to act smart, why bother trying to impress everyone here anyway_. Sasuke snorted to hide the fact that he was jealous that Naruto could figure out the mission before he could.

 _Who is Naruto trying to impress, Sasuke-kun is still better than he is._ Sakura thinks to herself, as her Inner Sakura manifests itself.

 _ **CHA! He's just trying to look cooler than Sasuke-kun, don't fall for his tricks, he's just trying to impress everyone here.**_ Inner Sakura says with a fist pump.

"Yeah kid, you got it right, I had to lie as Gato has literally reduced our country to poverty and most of us even our nobles barely have to money to afford a B-rank mission, but if you drop the mission now, I have no doubt that Gato will kill me and the country will forever be ruined." Tazuna says trying to make them feel a little guilty in order to offer assistance.

"Nii-san, I know that I might have no say in this matter, but I believe that we should help this country and I'm never one to shy away from helping people. Besides, this might offer Konoha a new trade route if we help them, something both of us can benefit from." Naruto says looking at Kakashi with a rather pleading look; one Kakashi was well familiar with. It was a look Naruto used when he wanted something but required his brother's permission.

Ruffling Naruto's hair, "That's a well thought plan, I believe that we might benefit from this, so we'll continue with the mission, but I will call off the mission if at any point I feel that we are out of our league, you three are to follow my orders, is that clear? " Kakashi says to his genin.

"Hai sensei" all three genin's nodded at their sensei's words.

"Thank you, really thank you, you have no idea how much this means to us" Tazuna says as he bows to them.

"Just under this archway and past the mangroves till we arrive at the pier" the boatman says to his riders.

The group then laid their eyes on the surroundings, where the buildings in the area were dented and rundown, with mole all over it which indicates signs of Gato's involvement. Once the boat hit the dock, they exchanged farewells with the boatman and went on their journey with Naruto taking point while Kakashi stayed in the rear.

 **XxX**

Walking even further on their journey, Naruto on the corner of his eye saw something and flicked a Kunai in that direction. The team immediately tensed up and went into formation, while Kakashi went to go check. It turned out to be a white rabbit, there was scared stiff by the kunai that nearly pierced its skull.

"Naruto! What were thinking scaring a poor rabbit like that" Sakura yelled out while Sasuke snorted at the opportunity to humiliate his rival/teammate.

 _In this season the rabbit's fur isn't white but is usually, so that means that this rabbit has been kept indoors…. It is used for the replacement technique!_ Kakashi thought as he was about to come to a conclusion, when Naruto shouted out.

"SENSEI! Chakra signature approaching fast from your 2 O'clock, signs indicates Jonin level chakra on par with you" Naruto warned out as he got ready in his formation.

 _Damn it, I was right_ Kakashi thought as he leapt back to avoid a huge cleaver blade that would have cleaved on his head, if he didn't move fast enough.

Soon, the blade was sent flying through the air, forcing the team to duck as it embedded itself into a tree. A figure stood atop of it, looking at his targets like a hawk.

"Well, well if it isn't Hatake Kakashi the copy ninja, no wonder the demon brother's failed" the man says in a gruff voice.

"Zabuza Momochi, the Demon of the hidden mist and ex seven swordsman member, I never thought that you of all people would be working for people like Gato" Kakashi says as he narrowed his eyes.

"Guys, this guy is dangerous, be on your guard, in the bingo book, he is stated as an A-rank ninja and master swordsman and is proficient in water jutsu's" Naruto whispered to his teammates, glad that he read through the bingo book beforehand.

"It's worth the pay I tell ya, besides its even more worth to able to fight the infamous Copy ninja of Konoha, said to have copied over a techniques, back in Kiri you were listed as an A-rank with a kill-on-sight order in the bingo books. I won't let the chance slip by. "Zabuza says as he shrugged.

"Now that introductions are, hand over the old man and I'll think of letting your genin go" Zabuza suggested.

"I'm sorry, I'll have to decline and this mission is beneficial to Konoha and we it would look bad if we just handed him to you without a fight." Kakashi said as his hands reached up to his forehead protector.

"Oh, going for the Sharingan already eh Kakashi, looks like I have to take you seriously now" Zabuza says as he made a hand sign, **Kirigakure No jutsu** (Hidden mist technique), soon a thick mist blanketed the whole area, obscuring the team's vision of their surroundings, that they lost sight of their sensei.

Soon, a chill went down the backs of the genin's, the killing intent that filled the air from both Kakashi and Zabuza was suffocating. The genin's calmed themselves down by moving chakra around them to lessen the effect, something Kakashi taught them to do before.

 _What Zabuza just said, Kakashi-sensei has the Sharingan, but it was only exclusive to my clan, so could he be a survivor?_ Sasuke thought as he scanned his surroundings.

 _Damn, if Nii-san is taking out the Sharingan it means that this could spell trouble, I have to focus and find him to help out._ Naruto thought out as he tried to concentrate. Soon, his senses picked up two sources of Chakra, although it was vague as the mist was made of chakra as well. One source was running while the other was being defensive, _so that's where the Zabuza is_.

Quickly flicking his set of projectiles to his sensed enemy, Zabuza was surprised when projectiles appeared in his vision and were aiming straight for him. Kakashi heard the sound and rushed to its location.

"What the hell, how did you find me, I was moving silently!?" Zabuza shouted out.

 _If this is mist is made of chakra, I believe I can blow it away if my wind has more chakra imbued in it._ Naruto says as he flashed through hand signs.

 **Fuuton: Daitoppa,** a huge gust of wind blew through the area, effectively dispersing the mist to reveal Kakashi and Zabuza in a deadlock standing on the river.

"Damn it, to think you had a wind user on your team, you got lucky there Kakashi. But not lucky enough." Zabuza says as he loosens his grip to throw Kakashi off balance as a pair of hands grabbed his leg from under the water. **Suiton: Suirou No jutsu** (Water release: Water Prison technique), a dome of water wrapped itself around the distracted Kakashi and he was now trapped within a prison of water.

"Damn it, he's got sensei and all the jutsu's that we can use will potentially harm Sensei, but I think I got a plan, Sasuke I need you to distract his right hand and his attention away from me." Naruto said with apprehension.

"Hn" Sasuke snorted as he was a bit miffed that he had to take orders from his rival, but knew that if needed any chance to win and survive was to rescue Kakashi.

"Don't think I'll make it so easy brats!" Zabuza created two water clones that appeared on land.

"If you have Mizu Bunshin, then I have Kage Bunshin, Sasuke I'll distract the clones, do it" Naruto says in a soft voice so that only his teammates could hear as he created 20 Kage Bunshins to deal with the water clones.

Sasuke raced past the distracted Zabuza clones and threw the Fuma Shuriken that he had in his bag at Zabuza. "Ha, you think I'd go down so easily like that" Zabuza says as he effortlessly catches the shuriken only to realise that Naruto was in his line of sight taking a deep breath.

 **Fuuton: Shinkuugyoku** (Wind release: Vacuum Bullets), the carefully aimed bullet sized wind chakra sped towards Zabuza whose instinct gathered through years of experience forced him to jump back and relinquish his hold over Kakashi, using his sword as a shield but still managing to sustain cuts.

"You little piece of shit, I'll kill you" Zabuza says as he readies the Shuriken in his hands to fire at Naruto, when it stops abruptly when Kakashi used a kunai to stop its momentum.

"The fight is between the two of us." the two Jonin then began an exchange using their weapons and then kicked away from each other and creating distance.

"Excellent plan and solid execution Naruto and Sasuke, good job" Kakashi says as he began going through a large number of hand signs, mimicking Zabuza's movements with relative ease.

 **Suiton: Suiryuudan no Jutsu** (Water release: Water Dragon Jutsu), they both cried at the same time, two large water dragons formed from the water and clashed against each other, cancelling each other out.

"What the hell? It's like you can-"Zabuza says as he flashed though more signs only to find that Kakashi is doing the same exact signs.

"Read your mind?" Kakashi says finishing the sentence for Zabuza, while continued doing hand signs at the same pace as Zabuza.

Zabuza growled as he continued progressing through the seals, "I won't let some-"

"Copycat monkey like you beat me" the two shouted at the same exact moment.

Zabuza upon completing the seals, stopped as he saw a mirage of himself standing behind Kakashi.

 _Is that me, what the hell is going on?_ Zabuza thought as he witnessed the mirage.

 **Suiton: Daibakufu no jutsu** (Water release: Great waterfall technique), Kakashi shouted as he sent a vortex of water straight into a stunned Zabuza.

Zabuza was slammed through the air and hit a tree with enough force to incapacitate a normal person. Zabuza was stop short from moving when kunai's were launched at him hitting him in all his limbs to prevent further movement, he glared at Kakashi from his position.

"Can you see the future?" Zabuza ask as he wanted answers for that mirage that he witnessed.

"Yes" Kakashi said while staring at Zabuza, "and the next thing I see is your death"

Preparing several kunai's, Kakashi was interrupted by the sudden emission of Senbon that pierced Zabuza's neck. Zabuza's eyes remained open with shock evident in them as he fell face first into the ground.

"You were right, this was going to be his last battle." A feminine voice was heard coming from the trees to Kakashi's left, the person wore a mask belonging to those that were of the Hunter Nin from Kiri and the clothes revealed little of the person's identity.

Kakashi leapt from the branch and squatted beside Zabuza to check his pulse.

"Confirmed dead, you're a Hunter Ninja from Kiri?" Kakashi says as he turns to the hunter Nin.

"I am and I thank you for helping to stall him, Kiri has been looking for Zabuza for a while now and his body holds secrets. Now if you'll excuse me I need to go and destroy the body." The figure appeared in a swirl right next to Zabuza and left with the man draped over the shoulders.

 _Something doesn't feel right about this, I just can't put my finger on it_. Naruto muses to himself, when Kakashi suddenly falls to the ground with his eyes closed.

Rushing to his side, Naruto was relieved that it was the result of mild chakra exhaustion, "Sensei is still alive, but using the chakra is taxing for him, so he's out for mild chakra exhaustion. Tazuna-san, do you have a place for us to stay and recuperate?" Naruto says as he created Kage Bunshins to heft his brother up.

"Sure, just follow me; my home is just up ahead." Tazuna says as he led the way.

 **XxX**

A few minutes later, the group arrived at a slightly rundown but decently stable two story house that was built on a dock a bit away from the shore. Tazuna stood in front of the door and started banging on it.

"Tsunami, open the door, it's me." Shuffling of feet could be heard as the open to reveal a rather pretty lady who looked to be in her mid-twenties and had brown eyes accompanied with dark blue shoulder length hair.

"Tou-san, you're alright, thank goodness!" the women smiles with relief.

"Uhuh, of course I'd be alright, I have these ninja here protecting me after all" Tazuna says as he jerks his thumb at the group hired to protect him.

Tsunami glances over Tazuna's shoulder and notices a group of three kids, with another three of one of the kids carrying what appeared to be a scarecrow? "AH, thank you very much for taking care of my father, but will he be alright?" she asks pointing to Kakashi.

"Ah, well he is just exhausted after fighting earlier on; do you have a bed that we could borrow for him?" Naruto asks.

"Ah, yes we do, come on in and I will show you to the bed." Tsunami says as he gestures them into the house.

Following Tsunami up a flight of stairs, they entered a vacant room with a Tatami bed on the floor, Naruto's clones then laid Kakashi down and dispelled in a cloud of smoke, surprising Tsunami.

Noticing Tsunami's curious and intrigued look decided to answer her question, "They are solid copies of me called Kage Bunshin" Naruto says as he sat down beside Kakashi.

Tsunami didn't question further, thinking it was some kind of Ninja skill. Sakura decided to sit on the other side of the bed, "How long are you going to be out Sensei?" Sakura asks to the recently woken Kakashi.

"I'd say about a week or so till I'm able to move properly." Kakashi says in a strained voice.

"You've overused the Sharingan again, you really should stop using it so often and I remember your squad members often carrying you back from too much usage on a mission." Naruto says and notices the look he was getting from his teammates.

Sighing to himself, "Nii-san isn't an Uchiha in blood, he was given the Sharingan as a gift when he was younger when he lost his eye, as you can tell by the scar. Anyway, it is taxing on the body since he is not genetically capable of handling the Sharingan to its full potential. Even if he can utilize the copy trait, he still can't access more like the genjutsu reflection and anything else that comes along with it." Naruto replies with a shrug.

"Dobe, how do you know so much about my clan's doujutsu?" Sasuke asks, not comfortable that his rival was as knowledgeable about his clan's visual prowess.

"Nii-san forced me to read books about the clans when I was younger, what I just said was common knowledge written in the books and he also tells me about his experience using it." Naruto replies nonchalantly.

"Well, I'm glad you took those lessons to heart." Kakashi tries to strain his neck, but ends up flicking back to his original position.

The group became silent for a while, Naruto's teammates were obviously thinking about the battle with Zabuza, while Naruto was thinking back to that feeling he got when the Hunter Nin took Zabuza away.

"Nii-san, I don't know why, but I have a feeling something is suspicious about that Hunter Nin, I can't place my finger on it but I'm positive it's something bad." Naruto says abruptly, garnering the attention of his teammates.

"What do you mean dobe? You're judging the outcome of the battle based on a sole gut feeling?" Sasuke asks with a snort.

"Actually, sometimes on the battlefield, this sort of gut feeling has been proven to be true, now Sakura can you tell me what the Hunter Nin does for a village." Kakashi asks the smartest in the group.

"Well, a Hunter Nin is sent by a village to dispose of a missing-nin deemed to hold secrets, but when Hunter Nin find their target and execute them, they dispose of the body. Usually cutting of the head and burning the rest of the body with a fire jutsu." Sakura says when she pauses and the gears in her head start to turn.

"However, the Hunter Nin that we encountered just killed Zabuza with Senbon aimed at the neck and took the body away instead of doing the usual procedure. You don't suppose that the Hunter Nin did it on purpose, do you?" Sakura asks her comrades hesitantly.

"I believe it is what you're thinking about now; Senbon aimed at the neck if my knowledge is correct is able to induce a fake death like state, which means that the Hunter Nin and Zabuza are working together and Zabuza is most likely alive." Kakashi says grimly.

The reactions varied amongst the Genin, Naruto remained stoic but was internally coming up with ideas to deal with the hunter Nin and Zabuza if they would encounter them again. Sasuke was smirking to himself, eager to prove his strength and worth against the Hunter Nin as an Uchiha, allowing him to have one step closer in strength to kill Itachi. Meanwhile, Sakura was frantically looking around, not feeling comfortable at all as fighting an enemy like Zabuza was scary enough, but now they had another unknown ranked person to deal with as well.

"If I assumptions are correct, his recuperating time will span between anywhere between 4 days to 1 week, around the same for me. In the meantime, we need to prepare in case Gato sends another Ninja after us." Kakashi stated.

"What can we do to prepare, we nearly got killed by Zabuza and now that you can barely move, how are we going to do anything, we're just Genin!?" Sakura yells out as she was completely stunned that she would be facing more ninja.

"Why, we do what ninja always do, we train" Kakashi says out in a carefree tone.

"Training!? What do you expect us to do in one week, if they can exhaust you, what can we do?" Sakura screams out in apprehension.

"Sakura, even though I managed to get caught, Naruto and Sasuke worked excellently together and managed to free me, they have improved their teamwork and individual skills, you ought to have more faith in your teammates." Kakashi lectured in a slow tone, in order to get his point across.

Sakura hung her head down in shame, while Naruto and Sasuke smirked at being praised. Naruto and Sasuke looked at each other and a silent challenge was initiated, they would compete to see who improved the most in this training.

"So you're finally teaching us something besides teamwork, this ought to be fun" Naruto says with a smirk.

Suddenly a soft voice was heard, "Why do guys even bother?" the voice belonged to a solemn looking boy who appeared to be around the age of 7, he wore a fishing hat with a yellow shirt with blue collars.

"Ah, Inari, where have you been?" Tazuna gave his grandson a hug.

"Welcome home, grandpa." Inari says before he turns his attention to the ninja and glares at them.

"Inari say hello to the nice people that protected your grandfather." Tsunami says.

"Why should I mum, they're just going to die, they can't beat Gato." Inari says to the surprise of everyone, resulting in eye twitches and controlled anger.

"Jeez, would you look at this kid; I think he broods as much as you do duckbutt." Naruto says smirking when he saw the angry glare his teammates was sending him about his new nickname.

"Listen here kid, we're going to kick Gato's ass and bring peace back to this country, that's a promise I will keep." Naruto says holding his fist at Inari.

"As if you could, what kind of idiot are you to think you can go up against Gato? If you value your life, then I suggest you leave this place." Inari says as he slams the door shut.

"I'm really sorry about his behaviour; it's just that we've been through tough times." Tsunami says in a downtrodden voice.

"Well, it seems my assumptions were right, hey Sasuke, have you been spreading your teachings of brooding around the world? If that kid is one of your students, I'd give him an A+." Naruto says to the ire of Sasuke, while Sakura shouts at him.

"Shut up Naruto-Baka" Sakura screams in feminine fury while she tries to hit Naruto.

Naruto caught her fist easily and swatted it away, "Sakura, you seriously think I can't catch your fist after doing so in the academy countless times?" Naruto sighs as lowers in hand.

"I'll be getting to rest, thank you for your hospitality again Tsunami-san, Tazuna-san." Naruto says as heads to one of the extra rooms that were vacant.

As Naruto passes by a door, he heard crying and sniffling, pressing his ear to the door, he could hear Inari muttering the words "tou-san" over and over. Frowning, Naruto decides not to intrude further and heads to his room.

Before sleeping, he inquired about Inari's father and realised why he had such a low expectation of them and couldn't fault him. If your father figure, who was deemed a hero in wave couldn't deal with Gato, how could other people deal with Gato?

 **XxX**

Team 7 gathered the next day in a clearing that Kakashi deemed suitable for training; he was using crutches to move about while explaining what their training would consist of.

"Alright, what I want you three to do is useful and will help build up your reserves and help in your chakra control." Kakashi says as he walks up to three and to the shock of the three, began climbing up the tree which Naruto sensed that he was only using chakra on his legs.

"What you three will be doing will be tree-climbing using chakra at the bottom of your feet to stick to the trees. It works similarly to magnets and works on other surfaces as well, but what I want you to accomplish is to find the right balance, after that you will learn to fight while sticking to trees subconsciously." Kakashi says while hanging upside down.

"Now you three give it a try and mark your progress with a kunai." Kakashi gestures as he flips to the ground.

The three genin raced to the trees and tried to stick their feet to the trees, all three were able to ascend at first. However Naruto and Sasuke overexerted too much chakra and were blasted away from the bark, while Sakura was able to continue on to one of the branches.

"Sasuke-kun, Sasuke-kun, look I managed to get so high up." Sakura squealed happily, hoping to impress her crush.

Sasuke scowled at his fan girl, jealous that she managed to get further than he did, which caused Sakura to lower her head.

"Now Sakura, don't be too happy, the only reason that you can go further is because of your chakra control, while you have much lower chakra, Sasuke and Naruto have larger than average chakra so their chakra control is not as good as yours, making it easier for you to control it. Try running up and down a few times, you'll get tired easily so this training is to improve your reserves." Kakashi says trying to comfort his student, praising her while raising awareness to her weak points.

Sakura nodded listening to her sensei's advice, eventually realised that she was getting exhausted and laid panting on the floor, while Sasuke and Naruto were still attempting it.

Naruto being a sensor was able to gauge the chakra required better and soon got the hang of it, eventually reaching up to the branch as well. Sasuke upon seeing Naruto smirking at him from the branch was seething at being best again by his rival, how _can be so much better than me, I'm an Uchiha, an elite ninja, so why is he better than me?_

Naruto noticing his teammates plight, decided to give advice and hopefully form a bond with him. "You're using too much chakra, calm down and focus, your emotions are causing your chakra to fluctuate and give out excess chakra to your feet." Naruto yells out as Sasuke was blasted from the tree again.

"I don't need your help dobe, I can do this myself." Sasuke grits his teeth as he was once again blasted from the tree, deciding to use Naruto's method, he felt that he was able to ascend better.

Finally reaching the top as well, he smirks at Naruto, obviously showing off that he didn't his help, while deep inside he was miffed that he had to acquire other's help, while Sakura was able to do it on first try and Naruto got better than him quicker.

All three started to repeat the process, none of them noticing the small figure in the house staring at them.

 **XxX**

Within one of Gato's base, we find a bedridden Zabuza and his partner the Hunter Ninja concocting some sort of medicine with herbs beside him.

"Heh, I thought you said that they will meet their end, but look what happened to ya, you came back defeated." Gato sneers as he enters the room with his bodyguards behind him.

Gato walks forward to Zabuza bed, "It looks like the Kiri Ninja I hired are pathetic, are all of you like this and yet people call you the devil. You can't even get the job done; your title is a faux if the result is like this."

"Hey now, why give me the silent treatment?" Gato says as he reaches out to Zabuza.

The hunter Ninja suddenly appeared beside Gato grabbing his wrist and throws him backwards to his two bodyguards, snapping his wrist in the process.

Gato's bodyguards unsheathed their swords, but only to find their swords no longer in their hands but also being pointed at their throats courtesy of one fast ass Hunter Nin.

"I'd advise you to stop now, I'm very upset now and will do things that are harmful to you." The hunter Nin snarls at them.

"O-one more chance, if you fail this time, I'll let all of Kiri know where you are!" Gato says as he stands on shaky legs and balls his fist at them, slamming the door shut as he and his bodyguards left the room.

"You didn't have to do that you know, Haku." Zabuza says as he tilts his head to his partner.

"I know, we have to be patient if not the hunters will come after us again." Haku says while mixing some herbs. "I'll be back soon; I need to collect more herbs soon, rest well."

 **XxX**

After training, the Konoha Ninja were present at the table eating some dinner with Tazuna's family. Naruto and Sasuke were exhausted, apparently they had a competition to see who could last longer, they didn't have a clear winner as both passed out, while Sakura was near unconscious on the table, Kakashi was reading his Icha Icha as usual.

"I see they you all are progressing well, Naruto and Sasuke, we will try sparring tomorrow while stuck to the trees, you will have to get used to it, while Sakura will be focusing on getting her reserves up to par." Kakashi says as he flipped another page of his book.

Grunts and groans were heard from the three, "I feel like working on a new technique, Asuma-sensei said that my vacuum bullets can be accumulated together to form a giant blob of compact wind chakra, says it substitutes penetrating power for impact power." Naruto says as he lifts his head up.

"I think we can take advantage of you training, create some shadow clones in the meantime while we train, to protect and assist Tazuna while he works on the bridge tomorrow." Kakashi says as he snaps his book shut.

Unbeknownst to them, Inari was there clenching his fist, he was sick and tired about hearing them train harder when he knew they couldn't do anything to Gato, then he snapped.

"Why do you guys bother to train hard!? It doesn't matter if you work hard; you're no match for Gato and his men. It doesn't matter if you promise that you can face him, you'll only end up getting killed in the end despite your claims! In the end, only the strong survive and the weak die. " Inari slams his hand on the table and he yells out in frustration.

Naruto looks at the kid and his eyes softened, "You feel that if your father figure can't defeat Gato, we can't? Inari, we were trained to kill, bandits won't be a problem for us, but we are not weak, I can assure you that."

"But right now, I want you to look at yourself, why are you giving up so easily?" Naruto asks, making Inari look up at him. "You still have your precious people don't you, your mother and grandfather, so why are you being childish and making your grandfather who is willing to sacrifice his life to save this country life harder? Shouldn't you be encouraging him?" Naruto continues.

Jerking his thumb to Sasuke, "My teammate over there lost his entire clan, but you don't see him giving up do you? He's working hard just to accomplish his goal, back in my village people do not value my existence, they ignore me like I'm a disease just because I have a burden that I had no control over, but I still work hard in order to protect and cherish those important to me, so why can't you do the same?" at this point, Inari's eyes will starting to water.

Holding up his pinkie finger, "I promise you that my team and I will help you save this country, that's a promise I will keep." Inari was now openly crying tears at this point, held up his pinkie as well and locked it with Naruto's.

Suddenly, Naruto was engulfed in a hug; Naruto patted Inari on the back as he continued crying. Sasuke and Sakura were having thoughts about what Naruto said, _'they don't value his existence and people avoid him like a disease? Why, for something he has no control over?'_ They both thought as Kakashi eyes softened at the words Naruto spoke, he knew that even if Naruto didn't say it, the words of the villages were still affecting him.

Soon, Inari fell asleep in Naruto's arms, carrying and handing him to Tsunami who was also crying, "Stay with him tonight, he needs someone to comfort him." Naruto advices as Tsunami's carried him to his room.

Naruto then headed for the door, "Naruto, where are you going?" Kakashi asks as he was worried about his little brother.

"I need some time alone Nii-san, you know I need it. I'll be working on my new technique in the meantime" With that Naruto left the house and headed to the forest.

While outside and walking, Naruto remembered all the times that he heard the whispers and glares he received from the general public. Kakashi wasn't always around as he had his duties and was only able to offer emotional support that healed a bit of the pain. Being called a demon and a disease by the public, even though he had no say in his burden was taxing on him.

On one hand, he wanted to protect those in Konoha that he cherishes and earn the recognition of the villages, on the other hand, he wants to hurt them and drive away the pain. This confused Naruto and was infuriating to think about, but he shifted his attention to the matter at hand and started training his new technique. Soon, yells and the shattering of rocks and trees could be heard.

* * *

 **Omake**

Tora the demon cat of Konoha and the pet of Madam Shijimi, was slumbering happily against the chest of Naruto as it was being carried to its demise in the form of human skin. Tora using certain cat wavelenghts spoke its mind.

"Boss, is the mission still going on?"

"Tora, keep playing the fool, they won't suspect you."

"Yes Boss, when will the operation begin?"

"Soon my child, soon, then we can finally get rid of all the village and force the humans to grow catnip for us."

"Oh Boss you just know what to do, will we contact our ally in Kumo?"

"That fool got herself captured so she won't be able to assist us, i got captured as part of our plan, contact the army, we shall start in 3 years."

"Understood Boss."

Naruto was slowly walking to the Hokage Tower when Tora continued to purr and grind against his chest, Naruto then noticed the insane and maniacal laughter coming from the back of his head and stopped in the middle of the road.

"Dobe, what's wrong?"

"I don't know, i suddenly have the urge to grow catnip and jump into a pile of them."


	4. Chapter 4

**Hi all, very sorry for the late update, but expect me to upload once per one or two weeks, stupid job and stupid computer, so anyway this is how i envision things to go, they will have a part in the future so yeah, maybe i guess, i will only post omake's when i find something funny to put. Oh yeah, i'm also working on a new fanfic, its about Kumo so yeah, just got the random idea, also Kumo doesn't get the love it deserves, its always about Konoha, so i decided to change that, nyahahaha. I like cats so yeah, furry balls of fluff makes you want to snuggle with them.**

 **Disclaimer: Yatta yatta, Naruto not owned by me, for shame**

* * *

The next morning in a clearing in the woods, we find Naruto slumped and sleeping atop of a rock. Surrounding him were many of the debris as a result of his training exercise he did the previous night, the trees and large size holes in them and the rocks were shattered everywhere.

Unknown to Naruto, who was still snoring away and was occasionally mumbling about ramen, Haku was in the vicinity collecting herbs for Zabuza. He noticed the scarred section of the forest and followed the trail to the source of its destruction, eventually stumbling upon Naruto.

 _He was of the ninja with Kakashi, judging by the damage of the surroundings; it seems that he has been training here. I'll play it safe and approach him as innocently as possible, maybe I can get some information._ Haku thought as he laid his basket down and walked up to Naruto.

"Hey wake up, you're gonna catch a cold like this." Haku says as innocently as possible. Naruto stirred and opened his eyes to be met with a face that could easily rival the beauty of some of the girl's back in Konoha. Setting himself upright, Naruto took in his surroundings and recalled yesterday's events.

Naruto was about to reply when he took a sniff and his sensing picked up something, _so that's who_ _ **he**_ _is, a surprise he didn't kill me, what is his goal here? I'll play along for now._ "Hello Miss and thank you for waking me, may I ask what you are doing here?" Naruto questioned after thinking through his plan.

"Oh I was just picking up herbs for an ill friend of mine, also I'm a male, pardon me for asking but are you a ninja?" Haku asks as he set up his next question.

"I figured you were a male, my nose picked it up and yes I'm a ninja, why the sudden question though?" Naruto asks with raised eyebrows.

"What do you fight for as a ninja that is worth risking your life for?" Haku inquired out of the blue.

"Then tell me what do you fight for, oh Hunter-nin-san, I'm a sensor so I recognise your chakra signature and don't bother to deny it." Naruto said as he stood up and prepared himself for an assault. Haku stiffened and stood up as well, staring at Naruto as both stared at each other followed by a moment of silence, both were tense and their bodies and posture ready, but Haku broke the silence

"I see that you know who I am, so why didn't attack me when I approached you earlier? I would like to engage in a conversation with you and hear your answer for my question to you." Haku says as he visibly relaxed his shoulders which Naruto did the same.

"I for one am not partial to killing someone, rather I prefer to know someone but I understand that it is necessary at times, my reasons for continuing my life as a Ninja is to protect those I cherish and wish to protect and perhaps Hokage. My life was initially regarded like a disease, my existence treated akin to a plague all because of something I possess which I have no control over. The day I strive to become Hokage is the day I gained the recognition and care of the village and vice versa, only then will I understand the Will of Fire that the Hokage embodies. My name is Naruto by the way and I believe it is common courtesy to introduce yourself as well." Naruto says as he had a faraway look, reminiscing all the emotional impact he bottled up in Konoha.

"My name is Haku, I myself also believe in what you do for which I continue this path, Zabuza is precious to me, I would do anything for him as he helped me when no one else did. I've also experienced something similar to your life, my father tried to kill me and my mother because of my abilities, my life had no purpose then until I met Zabuza and became his tool, I am contented like this." Haku replied in notion.

"Why do both of you work for scum like Gato, surely you are aware that his actions cause nothing but pain and suffering, if you have the same beliefs as me, you are able to see that people are losing their precious ones as well, can't you?" Naruto asks aggressively, if someone shared the beliefs he had, they would never allow people like Gato to run freely.

"I am aware of Gato's actions, but the benefits are fruitful for Zabuza and that's all that matters to me, in this world nobody is free from this cycle of suffering, essentially it is what makes us human, no?" Haku questioned.

"Yes I agree with what you're saying, I can't fault you for that as I would do the same thing in your shoes, but I would not stand idly and watch people suffer, that is where we are different Haku, I would try my best to end the sufferings of the people." Naruto glaringly stares at Haku.

"There are only so many things that one man can do, Naruto-san, we can't always be the heroes for the many when the world is in so much chaos." Haku says.

"Then why don't we end the cycle of suffering, try our best, gather allies and oppose this so called evil in this world. Completely destroying it is impossible, in good there is bad and in bad there is good, nobody is perfect, but that's what makes us human, right?" Naruto says with a smirk.

"You are right, Naruto-san, it's been a pleasure conversing with you, but I must leave with my herbs, I bid you farewell." Haku says as he turned around with his basket in hand and walked away.

"The pleasure is mine, Haku; I just hope that we do not encounter each other as enemies in the future, I enjoy talking like this, farewell." Naruto says with a smile as well as he left, he could also feel that Haku was smiling as well.

 **XxX**

It was afternoon when Naruto got back to Tazuna's house, as he entered the clearing he saw Sakura and Sasuke sparring while standing vertically on the trees. Sakura was clearly exhausted while Sasuke was barely breaking a sweat; Kakashi was on the ground with his book again supervising the two.

"Where have you been, you aren't usually gone this long" Kakashi says as Naruto stood right next to him.

"I exhausted myself last night, got woken up by a stranger and had a talk with said stranger. The talk was really pleasurable and I had a good time, the both of us would have been good friends if not for the current circumstances, it's a shame really. I finally met someone who understood me and fate has a twisted sense of humour for me." Naruto says with a tired sigh.

"Is the stranger our enemy? You shouldn't go and mix with them for too long, it might prove dangerous." Kakashi says.

"It was the hunter-nin that took Zabuza away, his name is Haku, appears to be around the same age as us, abilities are unknown, only thing I am aware of is that his father killed his mother and tried to kill him because of his abilities, chakra level is higher than Sasuke's so that's saying something. He refers to himself as a tool for Zabuza; I would reckon he risked his life for him. It would not have been dangerous for me, both of us were ill-equipped and I was being careful." Naruto says as Sakura falls to the ground panting while Sasuke flips over and dusted his shorts.

"I see, you know we will most likely encounter them again right? Don't get too attached, it will hinder you in the battlefield, go and spar with Sasuke and familiarise yourself with fighting while attached to the trees." Kakashi says as he snapped open his book again as Naruto left his side.

"Hai Sensei" Naruto says as he joined Sasuke for his training.

 **XxX**

The next day, Team 7 escorted Tazuna again to the bridge; Naruto was ordered to leave shadow clones behind to guard Tsunami and Inari as a precaution.

When they arrived at the unconstructed region of the bridge, they bore witness to the workers from the village that Tazuna gathered lying on the ground unconscious and covered in wounds.

"What the hell happened here?" Tazuna asks out loud while approaching his colleagues.

As Kakashi was about to issue a command to his squad, a familiar thick mist blanketed the area, forcing Tazuna to halt in his movements and Team 7 to tense up and surround him in a diamond formation.

"Well well, look what we have here, my old prey, why come so soon? I like to have a little more fun watching my prey run and scream instead, oh well, can't help it." Zabuza's voice was heard through the mist as water splashed around Team 7.

Four Mizu Bunshin surrounded Team 7 so that everybody had a Zabuza clone to themselves. "Take out the clones and guard Tazuna, I'll handle Zabuza" Kakashi says as he quickly took out his clone and released his chakra in a burst to dissipate the mist, only to reveal Zabuza and a masked Haku dressed in his Hunter Nin outfit standing across Team 7.

Naruto and Sasuke took care of their clones easily, but had to help Sakura as she had trouble overpowering her Zabuza clone. "Looks like the parties getting hyped up eh Haku, I'll deal with Kakashi and you deal with his genin, do it quickly, I want to see Kakashi's face when he sees them die." Zabuza says he met with Kakashi in a clash in the middle.

Haku raced towards Team 7 as he took out Senbon and threw it at them with Naruto and Sasuke deflecting them. "Sakura, guard Tazuna, me and Sasuke will deal with Haku." Naruto says as he and Sasuke battled with Haku, while Sakura nodded and stayed behind with Tazuna and observed the fight.

"It seems as though fate has a twisted sense of humour, ne Haku? I feel like we could have been good friends if not for the circumstances, shame it had to be like this." Naruto says as he engaged Haku in Taijutsu while Sasuke was pelting him with projectiles and pressuring him.

Naruto was knocked by a swift kick to his open guard, "Dobe, how do you know this guy?" Sasuke says to Naruto as he deflected more Senbon and retaliated with his own projectiles.

"I met him in the forest when I went training yesterday, we had a talk, his name is Haku and is around our age, he has unknown abilities but his chakra is between low Chunin to Mid Chunin, be careful." Naruto says as reflected the Senbon with his Kunai this time while Sasuke engaged in Taijutsu.

 **Katon: Gokakyuu no Jutsu** , Sasuke shouted as Haku leapt back from our sweeping kick, sending the giant fireball at Haku. **Suiton: Suijinheki** (Water release: Water Formation wall), Haku says after going through hand signs with speed that made Naruto blink at. Water from the ground rose up in a wall formation and engulfed the fireball completely, creating steam in the process.

Clashing of metal could be heard in the centre of the steam, it cleared away to reveal Sasuke and Haku in a deadlock. Each had one hand with Kunai blocking the other's Kunai while their hands were gripped together, pushing against each other. Suddenly, Haku let's go of his grip causing Sasuke to lose balance and momentarily giving Haku a chance to do hand signs. He began speeding through hand signs with only one hand.

 _One hand signs, is that even possible, I've never seen anything like it._ Kakashi thought out as he side-stepped away from Zabuza's sword swing.

 _What the hell, one handed signs, how is he able to do that._ Naruto thought as he had no choice but to stand in the side, for fear of harming Sasuke in the process.

 **Hijutsu: Sensatsu Suishoo** (Secret art: Thousand Flying Water Needles of Death), Haku says as stomped his feet on the ground, sending water splashing into the air and turning it into thousands of deadly projectiles. _Damn it, I have to block it from hitting Sasuke._ Naruto thinks as he went through his own set of seals, **Fuuton: Daitoppa** , a blast of wind was effectively able to deflect all the needles and hit Haku in the process that had leapt back in order to avoid his own projectiles.

"I didn't need your help dobe, I was ready to evade it" Sasuke says as Naruto landed right next to him, ready with a kunai.

"At least be appreciative that I helped you, Teme, now go distract him so I can fire wind bullets at him." Naruto says which caused Sasuke to grumble that he had to take orders from the dead last, but did as he was told. Sasuke pressured Haku into a corner with a series of kicks coupled with projectiles aimed at him, allowing Naruto who had prepared his jutsu to fire at him.

 **Fuuton: Shinkuugyoku** , wind bullets were fired at Haku as Sasuke got out of the way. A series of clangs could be heard and to the surprise of Team 7, a cracked mirror made of ice appeared in front of Haku, protecting him from the air bullets.

 _Shit, he's a bloodline user of the Yuki clan, he has the ice release, I thought they went extinct in the civil war._ Kakashi thought allowing Zabuza to break through his guard and slash at his vest, drawing blood.

"Hehe Kakashi shouldn't have taken your eyes away from me, Haku should be about ready to kill those genin's of yours and this should be fun to watch." Zabuza says with a cackle.

 _Damn it, I have to finish here and get to them quickly, they don't stand a chance against that boy._ Kakashi thought as he readied a scroll in his vest.

"I'll show you my resolve, Naruto-san" Haku says as he clasps his hands together and a giant dome made up of ice mirrors surrounded Naruto and Sasuke. **Hijutsu: Makyoo Hyosho** (Secret art: Demon Mirroring Ice Crystals), Haku says as he warped into one of the mirrors causing his image to appear in every twenty-one mirrors surrounding Naruto and Sasuke.

 **XxX**

At Tazuna's house, Tsunami was cleaning the house as usual while Inari was in his room looking out through the window. _Naruto-nii, I wonder what you are doing now_. Inari became close to Naruto after his speech, even started calling Naruto his older brother which delighted Naruto. A crash and his mother's scream caused Inari to shake out of his thoughts as he raced down the stairs and saw that the two thugs who were guarding Gato earlier were threatening his mother with their swords unsheathed.

"Hehe, Gato sure knows how to choose them, hey he said that we could kill the daughter and her kid, he didn't say what we could do before we killed them, right?" one of the thugs said to the other as a lecherous grin formed on both their faces, slowly approaching Tsunami who was fearing for her life.

A pan and rolling pin hit the thugs on the head courtesy of Inari; he used the opportunity to grab his mother and fled the house. The thugs regained their senses and gave chase; they caught up to Inari easily and cornered him. "You fucking brat, when I'm done with your mother, you'd be next" the thugs said as they lunged at Inari with a sword swing. Tsunami clutched Inari close to her and prepared to shield him from the attack.

A poof could be heard as Tsunami noticed that she was in a different location, while the two thugs were on the ground with swirls in their eyes, two Naruto's standing over them. "Are you two alright, I got here as quickly as I could?" one of the clones asked as the other tied the thugs up.

"Naruto-nii" Inari said as he glomped the clone while crying. "Hey Inari, you were really brave I tell ya, you should be proud, but I'm not the real Naruto, I'm just a clone, boss is probably at the bridge right now. I…well the both of us was created to protect the both of you" the Naruto clone said as he rubbed Inari's back soothingly.

"I never go back on my promise, you can count on it." Naruto says with a smirk as Inari returned his smirk. The Naruto clone then went with the other clone to bring the thugs into the house, while Inari hugged his mother who was tearfully holding onto him.

"Kaa-san, I…I want to do something, I want to be brave like Naruto-nii and we can't just sit here and do nothing." Inari said with as much vigour he could muster, shocking his mother who recognised the same look that her late second husband once had.

Inari then began planning while his mother supported him, she was indeed proud of her son and would help his cause, if only her husband were alive to witness it, he would have been proud too.

 **XxX**

"What is this, does he have a Kekkei Genkai?" Naruto asks out loud as he and Sasuke took in their current predicament.

"It seems like it dobe, I've never heard of ice release before, but if it is ice then all we have to do is just melt it." Sasuke says as he went through the necessary hand signs **, Katon: Gokakyuu no Jutsu** , the fireball was sent speeding towards one of the mirrors. The explosion engulfed the mirror and caused Sasuke to smirk, however it was short-lived as the mirror hardly had a scratch on it and was barely melting.

"This mirrors are made with chakra, your fire jutsu's will be unsuccessful in melting it, forgive me for this." Haku says as the images of him in the mirrors moved as one, drawing Senbon ready to fire it.

Within a blink of an eye, Naruto and Sasuke were pelted by the Senbon in all direction, causing them to be impaled and scratch by the Senbon.

"Arghh!" were the sounds heard as both of them flew back from the onslaught.

"Damn it, those attacks are coming from every mirror, are they clones? There's only one way to figure it out." Naruto says as created his own clones that raced to every mirror.

A hundred blurs were seen and suddenly all of the clones including the original was sent flying back and dispersed. Sasuke was caught in the crossfire, the two were sent skidding across the floor.

"Your attempts are futile; the images in the mirrors are my reflection, which I can transport myself to each of them at light speed, there is no possible way for you to catch me." Haku says as he continued his onslaught on them.

Naruto created more clones and tried to attempt multiple wind jutsu's at once, only for Haku to disperse them as soon as they were created, however Sasuke at that moment before he was struck by Haku managed a glimpse of him.

 _I saw him before he attacked, is he slowing down or am I getting used to it, I need to make sure._ Sasuke thought out. "Naruto, use more clones, I need to test something out, just do it." Naruto did as he was told and created more clones which went after the mirrors.

 _Focus, concentrate, track his movements, I need to see everything._ Sasuke said as he focuses on Haku's movements, which went to deal with the Naruto clones.

As Haku moved through the mirrors, Sasuke's eyes slowly got used to Haku's movements, _that's it, that's it, I can see his movements, his movements are slowing down to me._ Sasuke thought as he finally caught Haku's movements and threw a Senbon that was impaled in him towards Haku. It missed, but Haku was surprised by Sasuke's actions.

 _My movements are too fast for the human eye to be comprehend, so how is it that he is able to see my movements? Could it be that my movements are slowing down, this jutsu takes too much chakra, I need to take them out now and join Zabuza._ Haku says as the reflections all threw Senbon again, Sasuke managed to dodge a few while Naruto was completely pelted but Naruto noticed Sasuke's movements.

"Hey Sasuke, you can see his movements?" Naruto questioned in pain as he took out the Senbon in his arms.

"Yeah, but I need more tries, I'm getting used to it, use more clones, I need to get used to it." Sasuke says as he squinted his eyes.

"On it" Naruto said with a smirk then made more clones. _Even if Naruto doesn't show it, he's exhausted, I have to get used to his movements now._ Sasuke thought as he focused all his attention.

Bit by bit, Sasuke got used to Haku's movements till the point that he could predict his exact location. "Now!" **Katon: Gokakyuu no jutsu,** in slow motion the fireball sped towards the path of Haku's trajectory. Haku noticed in the nick of time and dodged it, but his pants got singed.

"How, how are you able to…." Haku's sentence was cut short as he noticed Sasuke's eyes, "Your eyes, you have a Kekkei Genkai too?" this caused Sasuke to give an uncharacteristic grin large enough to cover his whole face.

"Hahaha, I finally unlocked it, you're no match now when I have these eyes." Sasuke says with a smirk.

"Looks like you unlocked it eh, good job, first thing first we need to get out of here, I got an idea but I need you to track him down." Naruto says as he got up from another onslaught.

"Prepare the largest fireball you can create as soon as you find an opening, I'll back it up" Naruto says as he went through hand signs.

"I won't allow you to do as you please." Haku says as he raced towards Naruto, only to see a Sharingan eye staring at him.

 **Katon: Gokakyuu no jutsu** , an immensely large fireball burst forth from Sasuke's mouth and headed straight for Haku. _'Now'_ Naruto thought as he compressed his chakra into a giant ball in his lungs and fired the new jutsu he was working on. **Fuuton: Shinkuugyoku** , the giant blob of compressed wind headed towards where the fireball was fired, effectively joining together and creating a massive fireball and explosion that tore through the mirrors that were starting to weaken from the extensive use from Haku.

The fireball broke through with a roar, garnering the attention of the people on the bridge it headed towards the ocean where the sea sizzled upon contact with it. Naruto and Sasuke then leapt through the opening and embraced their momentary freedom from the ice dome.

"Heh, looks like we did it Teme." Naruto says but notices that Sasuke was wobbling on his feet, obviously from chakra exhaustion from the large fireball he created.

Naruto managed to catch Sasuke, hefting him onto his shoulders and raced to where the rest of team were. Sakura who was still guarding Tazuna noticed a weird silhouette coming through the mist that Zabuza created in the fight against Kakashi. She soon made out the image of Naruto, with what appeared to be Sasuke on his shoulders, both were bleeding in all areas and had multiple Senbon stuck in them.

She abandoned her post and dashed towards them, allowing Zabuza to use the opportunity to create a water clone to deal with Tazuna. It was intercepted by a Kakashi clone, "Sakura! Don't abandon your post!" Kakashi yells out.

Sakura stops mid-way and dashes back to Tazuna in a panicked fit. Naruto soon makes their way back to Sakura, who immediately began patching up their wounds, primarily Sasuke's wounds while shouting at Naruto wondering what happened.

"Sakura, relax, we managed to escape the Hunter Nin, but he was tough as hell, Sasuke had to use up most of his chakra and most likely fainted from chakra exhaustion." This caused sakura to quieten down, but she was still berating Naruto for letting it happen to her 'Sasuke-kun'. Naruto nonchalantly ignored her and removed the Senbon's on his body while keeping a look out.

"Looks like my genin made it out alive after all Zabuza, it means either your accomplice is dead or too injured, you'll be joining him soon." Kakashi says as he smears his blood on the scroll and tied it back up and held it in a hand sign.

Going through a series of hand signs, **Kuchiyose: Doton: Tsuiga no jutsu** (Summoning: Earth release: Tracking fang technique), the dog Nins from Kakashi's personal summon burst up from the ground and bit their fangs on Zabuza who tried to dodge them but end up getting caught.

"I didn't let my guard down, I let you get through it, you see these are my hounds and they are able to track you via my blood, the blood on your blade which you slashed me with." Kakashi says as relaxes himself.

"Ah, it looks like the mist is finally clearing up and you know what I see Zabuza, I see your death." Kakashi says as walks up to Zabuza.

"I'm going to show you something original, I didn't copy this, I created it, my personal jutsu." Kakashi then went through hand signs and held his arm out with his hand gripped on his wrist.

An explosion of chakra soon burst forth from surrounding chakra, it then converted it to lightning and converged into his hands and it became completely visible. Kakashi held a palm full of lightning chakra, which was classed as an S-rank assassination technique created completely by Kakashi alone, his signature technique.

 _What the hell, the chakra is so condensed and powerful that it is visible._ Zabuza thought in fear.

 **Raikiri** (Lighting Blade), Kakashi yells out as he held out the lightning is his hands. "You are not a shinobi Zabuza, you are nothing but a petty disease plaguing these lands and I'm getting rid of you now." Kakashi says as he raced towards Zabuza, the ground cracking from the force of the technique.

"Wha-what kind of jutsu is that?" Sakura asks in awe.

"That's Nii-sans personal technique, he calls it the Lightning Blade and a completely original technique that he created and it's classed S-rank." Naruto says much to the shock of Sakura.

"Is this the end?" Zabuza asks as he had no way of moving from the deadly force of lightning and started to pale at his incoming demise.

As Kakashi was halfway approaching, an ice mirror appeared and Haku appeared ready to intercept the attack, he kicked Zabuza away and tried to dodge the attack but ended getting grazed by it on the shoulder. Blood spurted out and forced Haku to leap to the floor in order to avoid getting impaled; he grasped his shoulders and eyed Kakashi dangerously.

Kakashi was about to carry on his charge when clapping was heard from across the bridge, Naruto sensed at least 200 hundred chakra signatures that were bandit level at best approaching the bridge. Kakashi disabled his jutsu and everybody eyed the short man clapping away with his army in front of him.

"Well, well, look at you Zabuza, the Demon of the mist can't even manage to kill a squad of Ninja, there's been a change of plans you see, that plan involves in you dying right here. I suppose their pay would be having a little fun with that daughter of the bridge builder, quite the looker isn't she? I wonder what is happening to her right now, eh, I sent a couple of guys to get her and they should be having fun now." Gato sneers as he and thugs behind laugh.

"Looks like you and I are no longer have a problem, eh Kakashi." Zabuza says as he swung his sword on his shoulders.

"It seems so Zabuza" Kakashi says as he took out a kunai and stood ready.

"Nii-san, wait, I've got a score to settle with this guy, let me handle this." Naruto says as he took out his Shuriken.

"Zabuza-sama, I too have a score to settle with Gato." Haku says as he took his Senbon.

"Heh, looks like you and I have a common goal eh Haku." Naruto smirks as he and Haku walk past their individual superiors.

"Let us proceed" Haku says causing both of them to start their attack.

Naruto created his shadow clones and they jumped high up into the air using chakra in their feet, each threw their Shuriken and went through hand signs. **Shuriken Kage Bunshin no jutsu,** all the Shuriken started multiplying and pelted the thugs, causing all of them to fall down like flies.

The few remaining thugs were taken apart swiftly by Haku, soon both of them stood in front of a quivering Gato. He was scared pissed, his face was pale and he was sweating profusely. He was on his knees and begging the both of them to spare his life, "P-p-please spare me, I can give you anything you want." Gato says as he begs.

"Anything you say, eh, well I want you to sign all your property and money to the Land of waves." Naruto says. He figured that he could do the Land of Waves a favour and give the country back their money.

Gato seemed hesitant at first, but took out all the necessary papers and signed them under Tazuna's name, effectively giving him control over the entire company. Tazuna took the papers with tears in his eyes and profusely thanked Naruto, which Naruto simply smiled at.

Naruto looked at all the dead bodies on the bridge and felt a clenching his stomach, making him feel like hurling. Haku calmed Naruto down as he figured that it was Naruto's first kill and told him that the world would be better without people like them. It helped ease up on the feeling, but it would be awhile before he got over it.

Naruto's sickness soon dissipated away as he felt a large group of incoming chakra approaching the bridge, he realised that it was Inari with the rest of the village. Inari arrived on the scene to see Team 7 with Zabuza and Haku, along with a quivering Gato on the floor and his grandfather crying with a set of papers in his arms.

The villagers then rushed towards Gato and dragged him away, while he started screaming about the promise to be spared. "Well Gato, we promised, but the villager's didn't, so have fun with that." Naruto says with a smile and a wave as the villagers drag Gato away to do who knows what.

Team 7 was invited to Tazuna's house where the entire village celebrated their victory over Gato, Zabuza and Haku was also invited seeing that they were no longer Gato. Sasuke woke up after a few hours of rest to the delight of Sakura who was crying and hugging Sasuke, he was told about the day's events and mused that he didn't get to prove anything, but he awoken his bloodline so he was in a good mood.

 **XxX**

While the celebrations were going on in the house, Zabuza was sitting on the roof and looking over the sea. Naruto popped up and sat beside him, looking at the same scene as Zabuza.

"What do you feel of Haku?" Naruto questioned out of the blue, making Zabuza raise a non-existent eyebrow.

"He's just a tool kid, my tool, for me to use, nothing else." Zabuza says nonchalantly.

"Is that true?" Naruto says with an edge in his voice.

"Yeah it is kid, quit questioning about it." Zabuza says annoyed.

"Don't lie to me! I'm a sensor and I can feel your emotions through your chakra, I know that you were worried when Haku was about to be struck down by Nii-san, so why are you lying to yourself?" Naruto questioned angrily with his hands punched in the clay roof.

Zabuza surprised by the said knowledge chose to remain silent; he had no answer to the question. He had always been running from Hunter Nin, Haku was a valuable asset; he was skilled and picked things up quickly and made it easy to dispatch people faster, but what was he to him? The kid next to him said that he felt worried about Haku, why? These thoughts ran through his head while he remained silent on the outside to the boy beside him.

"Your chakra is fluctuating, you are thinking too much, just answer me this, what would you feel if Haku died right in front of you?" Naruto says in a monotonous tone.

Zabuza imagined the scenario of Haku dying, he had a strange feeling but it wasn't nice, that was all Zabuza could describe. Naruto sensed the emotions underlying the silent façade that Zabuza was giving him; he smiled knowing that Zabuza was aware of Haku's existence to him.

"Haku is truly loyal to you, he thinks himself as your tool, that's just plain wrong, if you have these kinds of emotions for him, you should treat him as someone precious to you, not an asset waiting to be used and thrown aside." Naruto says quietly as the wind blows over both of them.

"I read the bingo book about you, an A-rank who attempted the murder of the Mizukage, fleeing from his village and chased after by hunter-nin. If you want to protect both yourself and Haku, why not ally yourself with a village, Konoha is happy to accept a new bloodline user and a powerful swordsman who could teach Kenjutsu. All you have to do is just ask ya know, Kakashi can send a message to the Hokage for his permission and if accepted you have a new home where both of you are sheltered and are safe. Isn't that what you want? Think about it." Naruto says as he stood up.

"You talk a lot kid." Zabuza says as he eyes Naruto.

"I like Haku, he went through things I'm familiar with and it's nice to talk with him, however if you gave him a chance, I might give you a chance as well, all I'm saying is for the sake of Haku, understand that." Naruto says as he entered the house, leaving Zabuza to his thoughts.

The party went on, with Haku and Naruto chatting happily and Sakura constantly pestering a still bedridden Sasuke, the Land of Waves will forever remember the day where they were free from the control of Gato and could finally prosper as a country again.

 **XxX**

With the help of Naruto and a fully rested Team 7, the bridge was constructed completely and the land of waves was finally connected to the Land of Fire. Naruto told Kakashi about his proposal to Zabuza, Kakashi had to admit that it sounded possible and praised his little brother on coming up with something like that.

Team 7 had to eventually leave the village, with many of the villagers overseeing their departure; Inari especially came to see them off with a wide smile and tears pouring from his eyes. The villagers thanked them profusely and called them all heroes, the praise and acknowledgement made it difficult for Naruto to leave. He was valued as a person and a hero, his existence was recognised unlike back in Konoha, he would miss this feeling.

As Team 7 left with waves, Inari turned to his grandpa and asked, "Grandpa, what should we name the bridge now that it is finished?"

"How about The Great Tazuna Bridge? After yours truly." Tazuna says with a cocky smirk, which caused Inari to deadpan and Tsunami to bonk him on his head.

"Get over yourself you old man, how about The Lucky Seven Bridge? For Team 7 and their luck in saving the country." Tsunami suggested which many agreed that it was a good name.

"The Lucky Seven Bridge it is then." Tazuna said as he started writing the name on the board.

 **XxX**

Going back to Team 7, they were walking through the thick trenches of the forest when Naruto stopped abruptly causing his teammates to eye him curiously. "You know you can come out now, there's no point in stalking us you know?" Naruto says he turned his head to a pair of trees which Zabuza and Haku emerged from.

"So have you thought about what I said, you in or what?" Naruto questioned with crossed arms.

"What are you talking about Naruto?" Sakura asks suspiciously, she hadn't gotten over that Zabuza and Haku were no longer their enemies; they hurt her 'Sasuke-kun' so that was enough reason.

"Keep quiet, Sakura" Naruto says not even bothering to give her a glance.

"Yeah I'm in kid, I gave it some thought, if your Hokage can provide it for us, I don't see why not, besides Haku likes the idea of staying in a village." Zabuza says with a shrug, but Naruto could tell that he was feeling somewhat happy at the moment while Haku was a shining beacon of happiness, also evident by the large smile on his face.

"What do you mean that they are joining the village, they are our enemies Naruto-Baka!" said Sakura who had not gotten out of her phase yet.

Sasuke remained silent, but was inwardly happy that he had a challenging opponent in Konoha that he could face and improve upon.

"Sakura, listen to me, why do you still think they are our enemies, they were under a contract, by Gato, now that Gato is dead, they are free mercenaries, meaning they are no longer our enemies. Also think about the benefits Konoha will be getting, we get a new bloodline user and a powerful Kenjutsu expert who can teach people, in return they are offered shelter and protection. It's a win-win situation, don't you get it? And they call you the Kunoichi of the Year for Intellect." Naruto says with a mocking face.

Sakura was fuming with anger and was about to charge at Naruto but noticed the looks she was getting from everybody, she stopped and hung her head down in shame.

"Well alright then, we best get moving along now, we'll reach Konoha by noon and we'll see the Hokage about the transferring." Kakashi says as the shinobi all leapt into the trees and sped off to Konoha.

Naruto and Haku were on the side happily chatting about what Konoha was like and the sorts, occasionally there were mutterings of 'ramen' and 'food of the gods'. Zabuza and Kakashi were meanwhile in the back overlooking the entire squad. Sasuke was in the front as he had smug grin on his face, no doubt from unlocking his bloodline, while Sakura was to the left staring dreamily at Sasuke.

"Looks like my little brother managed to convince you huh? Figures, he has a knack for these kinds of things, did the same thing to me too." Kakashi says as he looks at his little brother.

"How are you two brothers, you look nothing alike, well except for the mask?" Zabuza questioned noticing the differences between the masked brothers.

"I adopted him when he was born, he reminded me of my late sensei and was feeling lonely, so I decided to adopt him, he's been a good part of my life now and I don't regret it." Kakashi says giving him the standard answer.

"Hmm" Zabuza says.

The conversation between the two remained professional as neither spoke a word but carried on with their journey to Konoha. Team 7 soon arrived at the Konoha Gate, where we can find the usual duo Izumo and Kotetsu lounging around in their bored state. A firm 'Urhm' brought them out of their stupor, they realised that Kakashi was at the gate, with ZAZUBA MOMOCHI?

"Requesting permission to enter Konoha with guests, I'll be in charge of them." Kakashi says as he handed them the necessary papers.

After their robot like movements, Team 7 had clearance to enter the village with Zabuza and Haku right behind them. Naruto sensed several Anbu in the buildings above overseeing the Team; it was obvious that they were looking out of Zabuza. The glares and death threats overheard by Zabuza and Haku from the villagers did not go unnoticed as they were directed towards their blonde benefactor. Haku figured that this was the problems Naruto faced in his village, but realised that Naruto took it in stride with a smile on his masked face.

They soon arrived to the Hokage tower, where a scared stiff secretary was fumbling around her desk for papers to get clearance to meet the Hokage, this somewhat amused Zabuza. "The Hokage is free at the moment, you may enter." the secretary says after calming down, but managed in a glare towards Naruto as they passed, Naruto just gave her a bored look.

Zabuza's initial impression of the Third Hokage was a powerful and wise man, a veteran of wars and holder of wisdom, which was hardly the case when he entered the room. Sprawled on the couch was the Third Hokage 'The God of Shinobi' reading the infamous orange book that makes females growl and males to sing praises, while surrounding his desk was three copies of him.

"Working hard old man? I see you took my advice well eh?" Naruto says comically at the sight while Zabuza and Haku blinks in confusion, Kakashi was meanwhile looking at the same book much to the ire of Sakura.

"Aye, the technique works well, you're a natural my boy, you've relieved an old man of his suffering." The original Hiruzen says while his clones snorted at being forced to do his dirty work, much to the amusement of Naruto who knew that his clones sometimes had their own personality.

"Ah Lord Hokage, Team 7 is reporting in their completed C-rank promoted to A-rank mission and we have some guests with us." Kakashi says as he looks down from his book, Hiruzen does the same.

Seeing Zabuza Momochi and a young boy behind Kakashi, he raised an eyebrow and promptly dispelled his clones and took a seat in his chair. "So can you tell me why I have an A-rank missing Nin from Kirigakure and an unknown young boy in my office?" Hiruzen says as he lit up his pipe.

Kakashi was about to answer when Naruto decided to chip in, "Well, these two have been on the run from Kiri, I made friends with Haku over there, he has a Kekkei Genkai, ice release, I feel like we could offer them shelter and protection while we benefit from getting a new bloodline user and a Kenjutsu expert in Konoha, it's a win-win situation don't you think?"

Taking a deep puff of his pipe, Hiruzen eyed his surrogate grandson, amusement was twinkling in his eyes, his grandson always knew how to make things interesting. He then switched his gaze to Zabuza, "Zabuza, am I to believe that you follow young Naruto's proposition?"

"Hai, Lord Third" Zabuza says as he gave him a nod.

"What about you, young man?" Hiruzen directed his question to Haku.

"Whatever Zabuza desires is the same as my desires, Lord Hokage." Haku replies politely.

"Haku, we had this talk, I'm no longer in control of your actions and you are free to do whatever you want." Zabuza says as he bonks Haku on the head.

Naruto smiled seeing that Zabuza took to heart his words the other day, it wasn't much but it was still progressing. "Yes, I would like to join Konoha and pledge my loyalty to it." Haku says with a smile.

"Seeing that you have no known records outside of your village, you are free to join, Haku, Zabuza however we may have an issue, Kirigakure would most likely be barking at our doors for housing one of their missing-nin." Hiruzen says making the temperature in the room drop a bit.

"However, if we say, Zabuza was killed by Kakashi here and remove his mark in the Bingo book, there wouldn't be an issue any longer now would we." Hiruzen says smirking away and causing Zabuza to openly chuckle.

"Hehe, I like the way you think old timer." Zabuza says only to immediately correct himself upon seeing the look Hiruzen was giving him.

"As of this point, I would like to welcome your allegiance to Konoha, Kakashi, how would you assess their skill level?" Hiruzen asks as he shifts through his papers.

Kakashi and Naruto gave each other a look, "Chunin and Jounin, for Haku and Zabuza respectively." Kakashi says as Hiruzen clicks his fingers and an Anbu operative appeared kneeling.

"Get me a pair of vests for these two." The Anbu nodded and left in a Shunshin.

"The both of you are not allowed to carry out any missions for three months, you will be under probation within that period and a discounted price on a few apartments are available for purchase should you choose to buy any." Hiruzen says which Zabuza nods to.

"Now if that is all, I would like everybody except for Kakashi to leave the room." Hiruzen says as the occupants filtered out of the room, including the Anbu.

"It seems like he is just like his father, willing to give a helping hand to those in need, he would make a good man in the future." Hiruzen says with a faraway look while looking at the village, seeing Naruto drag Zabuza and Haku towards the ramen stand that he was jabbering about.

"The mission was successful, Naruto managed to convince Gato to hand over his company over to the Land of Waves in exchange for his life to be spared, Gato is now currently held by the villagers, unknown status, Land of waves is willing to set up a trade port for Konoha. The documents are in here and Sasuke managed to awaken his bloodline in the fight against Haku." Kakashi says as he handed the documents over.

After reading through the documents, "Hmm, they think of Naruto as their hero eh, not the first time a blonde headed shinobi managed to become a hero, following in his father's footsteps already, Minato and Kushina would've been proud." Hiruzen sighs as he looks at the portrait of the Fourth Hokage.

 **XxX**

"I'm telling you, this place has the food of the gods, once you enter Konoha you have to try this place out." Naruto says grabbing Zabuza and Haku towards Ichiraku Ramen.

"Alright, we get it kid, we gotta try the place out, quit dragging us." Zabuza says only for his words to fall on deaf ears, causing Haku to silently chuckle.

Haku was looking around the place and realised that Konoha was bright and cheery, it appeared to be so full of life with the bustling village and the villagers, he could get used to this.

"And we have arrived, welcome to Ichiraku's" Naruto proclaimed with a raised arm towards the sign board.

"Old man, get me the usual, I got a couple of friends with me today." Naruto plops down on his seat.

"Money! I mean Naruto, you came back." Teuchi says sheepishly after his daughter hit him over the head with a frying pan.

While they were ordering their dishes, Naruto's companions had to admit that the food was indeed good, quite frankly the best they tasted in their journey so far.

"Damn kid, you were right, the stuff is pretty good, no scratch that, the best the both of us have eaten in a while." Zabuza says to which Haku nodded to.

"Haku dude, if you don't want people to mistake you for a girl, you gotta cut your hair and change your wardrobe, people are gonna think you're a girl if you carry on like this." Naruto states while slurping his fifth bowl, much to the shock of Zabuza and Haku.

"I'm quite frankly comfortable with my current attire; I see no problems with it." Haku says shrugging his shoulders.

"The kid is right Haku; people will get mixed up in proving your gender, now that we're part of a village, you might want to change that." Zabuza says as he turned to Haku.

"Well we're about done eating already, so let's get you to a barber; I know a place that cost pretty cheap." Naruto says leading the way.

After a few hours, Haku was a changed man or boy; he no longer had the long black hair framing the sides of his face but instead now stuck to a shorter variation of it, tied up into a pony tail at the back.(Something similar to Nara clan hairstyle but without the porcupine). He still had the feminine look to him, regardless now that he was garbed in black shinobi clothing; he looked more like a male now.

Naruto while was waiting for Haku, talked to Zabuza and asked about Kenjutsu, Naruto saw how effectively Zabuza used the weapon and wanted to know the pros and cons of it.

It narrowed down to the size of your sword; it could range from a short sword like a Tanto to a Katana, each had its range of effectiveness. Zabuza's sword was just special and Naruto had to pick up a style to use the sword with, each style had its pros and cons, just like the sword of your choice.

Naruto decided not to dwell on it too much; he figured that he might give it a try, as Zabuza explained that in a fight when the three main Ninja arts fail to work, you could always rely on good ol' Kenjutsu. It was like a backup, albeit a powerful one that a skilled person could use it effectively in a battlefield and become a force to be reckoned with, like Zabuza.

Team 7 were given a week's rest after their A-rank mission, Naruto used the opportunity to indulge himself in seals and he went into the library only to be met with hostility from the librarian. He eventually came across a book titled _Sealing for Dummies,_ written by Jiraiya of the Sannin. If one of the legendary three of Konoha wrote a book on Fuinjutsu, Naruto was damn well sure that the book was useful despite the ridiculous title.

The book elaborated far easier than the other books that he read on sealing, it was condensed, written in such a way that even the dumbest of people were able to understand it, hence the name. It proved useful to Naruto however; he was able to understand the formation, alteration, variation, usefulness and risks involved when one dwells into Fuinjutsu.

Naruto began on the first level; it involved things like sealing scrolls, the basic of needs that most people would study just to get it. Most would stop at this level as there was any need to continue further, the usefulness of sealing was lost to many, but Naruto was interested, no scratch that, he was indulging himself in it every day. He took it in much easier than he had expected, his brother said that it required very skilled people to become masters and those were hard to find. It was also time-consuming to most, practisers usually spent years just to reach the level of master.

Naruto first had to practise his calligraphy; a simple wrong stroke could lead to disaster, causing the seal to blow up or worst. He got himself a calligraphy set, his brother said that he was glad he was picking up the art and suggested using Kage Bunshin to speed up the learning process and also as a stunt double for testing seals. He explained that even though practising calligraphy required muscle memory, it also required memory work; the clones would work on memory while the original worked on muscle.

Naruto spent the rest of his week, practising calligraphy and the seals, he didn't want to rush it and alter the seals. His physical training was also proving to be useful, the amount of weight on his body now amounted to 70kg and the only good thing about being a Jinchuriki was the healing factor and chakra which Naruto took advantage off.

 **XxX**

The week goes by quickly; Team 7 was officially brought back to service, they were seen in the office where Hiruzen could still be seen spending his time 'usefully' and by that we mean to smoke his pipe and read Icha Icha all day long.

 _I think it was a mistake to teach him the trick to overcome paperwork; he's getting too lazy now._ Naruto thought as he had to poke his sleeping grandfather on the couch to get his attention.

After an embarrassing display of reflex honed from years, Hiruzen was chuckling sheepishly as Naruto nursed a bruise on his head, scowling away at Hiruzen. "Ah, Team 7, it looks like you're ready for a new mission, this new mission is fairly simple, it's just an carrier mission to the Land of Iron (Tetsu no Kuni), you are to deliver the package to the Lord of the country, Mifune. That is all, you are dismissed." Hiruzen says as he proceeded to take out his book again, causing the growl in the corner to increase in volume. Kakashi and Naruto were chuckling while looking the corner, obvious to who was in it much to the confusion of his other teammates.

After the week ended, Naruto was confident enough to make his own storage scrolls and gave a few of them to his teammates, something that they took gratefully although Sasuke was brooding that Naruto was excelling at another art.

The meeting time took much lesser time and the team proceeded to head out, "Hey Kakashi-sensei, the textbooks don't say much the Land of Iron, can you tell us more about it?" Sakura asks, as a bookworm should.

"Well, the Land of Iron is a neutral country filled with Samurai; they are famous for their Kenjutsu and the weapons they produced, most of Konoha's weapon resources tend to come for the country and since all of the elemental countries get it from there as well, they decided to remain neutral in order not to warrant hostilities." Kakashi says without looking away from his book.

"Samurai?" questioned Sasuke.

"They are practisers of kenjutsu, they are followers in the way of the Bushido, they do not use any Ninja art except for kenjutsu, they are however able to utilize chakra through their swords to attack. Most Ninja tend to underestimate them, but the strongest of them, Lord Mifune is world renowned for his mastery in the Iai, a form of swordsmanship that is said that he so fast that ninja's are killed before they are able to weave hand signs. He has battled Hanzo of the Salamander before and survived the encounter, it is often said that he is one of the legendary figures in the old days of war alongside Lord Hokage." Kakashi says to the awe of his genin's.

"Well damn." Naruto words summarised the thoughts going through their heads at the moment.

"C'mon, we'll take a break here, it will take a while to get to the Land of Iron and the weather is cold so we want to get as much rest as we possibly can." Kakashi says as he gathered twigs for a fire.

"Hai-sensei"


	5. Abandoned

Hello all, I'm sad to inform you all that the story known as the Prophecies child is as of currently abandoned fully. I could no longer find the heart nor drive in order to carry on the story, however, it does not necessarily mean that I would abandon writing fanfiction as a whole. During my free time, I have imagined several other scenarios and crafted them into two pieces of work that I am currently working on.

Please give them a chance and I hope you enjoy.

Thank you for all your support and reviews previously, and I hope to meet your expectations soon.

Current stories:

1\. Twilight, Fairy tail & Naruto crossover

2\. Ghost of Kiri, Naruto Fanfiction


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